The Ace of Knaves
by Demon Eyes Laharl
Summary: Chaos erupts as victims pile... the best detective in Japan with a criminal pshychologist as her partner try to capture this elusive criminal, who seems to laugh at their every turn. Why is he doing this? What are the reasons of the actions of this Joker?
1. Prologue

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**- Prologue -**

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Detective Ayumi Kudo looked up in the screen as she waited patiently, almost manically for her suspect to arrive. Beside her, Dr. Kyla Brea, a leading criminal psychologist and profiler from the USA was tapping her fingers on the wooden table in a rhythmic way. They had both been rather tense for the past few months since the case first started. A bank robbery leading to pre-planned murders, with almost no absolute connections with each other. Their suspect, a smiling maniac, had only been caught just a few hours ago thanks to Detective Kudo.

"Nervous?" Brea had asked towards her companion.

"Very… I won't breathe easier until the bastard is confined," Kudo replied.

"Relax. We won," Brea stretched her back. "We stopped him… well, you did."

"You didn't meet him, Brea-san," Kudo shuddered slightly. "He was nothing like I ever met. I am more suited to the normal yet clever individuals. Bank robbers, murderers, kidnappers… my dad taught me how to catch criminals. Not monsters."

Detective Ayumi Kudo, daughter of the famous detective Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mori, who's dad was also a detective. It wasn't really much of a surprise when she became a detective for the police department before she turned 18. As a young girl, she showed a greater potential and intelligence than her father, and she was taught well enough with other different disciplines. Black Belt in Karate, well versed in literature, art and music, she was able to stamp her name across the whole country as one of the top detectives Japan has ever produced.

A genius.

Yet, no matter how great her deductive skills were, this case had confounded her. The suspect had always seem to elude her, working in a very random trail, yet only to show, in the end, that he wasn't just being random at all. All his crimes were committed with such atrocity, yet well planned that kept him one-step ahead of her.

Doctor Kyla Brea was called by the government of Japan to assist Kudo in profiling the criminal, but like Kudo, she was ultimately stumped by how their suspect operated. Even with the lucky break the police had recieved, even if she knew his name, he always worked away from her pre-defined models.

The man they were chasing seemingly had no remorse, no existing criminal record. His name, while known, was unhelpful, and he had no other alias. His weapons ranged from guns, knives, to toxics. He left almost no trace of himself in the crime scenes, and took pleasure in seemingly creating chaos.

Brea looked towards the file they had accumulated over the past few months.

"He's a piece of work, I tell you. Shows sign of clinical insanity, yet…" she closed the file. "He doesn't seem to be totally insane."

"He butchered a woman, poisoned another, and horribly disfigured another," Kudo shook her head. "He's insane."

"In a way," Brea took a deep breathe. "But almost all of his capers were calculated meticulously. Something you'd not find normally in an insane criminal."

"What would you call him then?" Kudo scoffed slightly. "Clever?"

"Well, he is," Brea muttered. "Take a look at his history. Bank robbery, July. A group of thugs break in a bank wearing clown masks, stealing five million Yen. Each of the bank robbers decided to seemingly kill each other off, to limit the share they would have to give. At the end, only one person had left the bank with all the cash. Him.

"Now, a few more robberies spanning a few weeks… each with the same results. He got out of each robbery cleanly, seemingly outsmarting his hired hands, walking out with twenty million Yen at the end. That's when the robberies stopped, all of the sudden."

"My first failure as a detective," Kudo muttered. "That's what the media had said during that time, anyway."

"Quite. But then, how could you have caught him with such vague descriptions? What did the witnesses say about him?" Brea asked.

"He was careful not to remove his mask, but they kept saying the strangest things at that time. They noticed that his neck was pale, almost white, and his hair had odd shades of green," Kudo shrugged.

Brea nodded. She took another file.

"Next case wasn't even considered to be related until the end. The break-out in the asylum," Brea flipped a few pages. "A mysterious man suddenly seemed to show up with a semi-automatic, and fired on the guards without warning. He strolled in towards maximum security, and dumped a large bag in front of the prisoners. They were filled with guns."

Kudo looked at her own copy of the file. The only witness to the whole thing was an inmate, who was too scared to follow the mob.

"He described the crook as a man with chalk white face, ruby red lips, and dark green hair. He wore a colorful purple suit with green vest, purple pants. When he entered, he just seemed to blend in with everyone, handing out guns like he was handing out candy."

"'_The town needs an enema!'_, the suspect told the inmates. _'And we need to administer it! Its quite enough for the normal people to call us unwell. We're quite sick of it, aren't we?' _and he just laughed as the inmates followed him.

"Soon, some of the inmates were on the street, shooting on by-standers, killing ten and injuring twenty," Brea continued. "The police were able to stop the inmates, though they've only caught five of the twenty released."

"We investigated the confiscated weapons," Kudo muttered slightly, getting on with the story-telling. "They were illegally bought outside through the Yakuza connections. A little thorough investigation and a little crackdown, we were able to find who had sold those weapons."

"Luckily for you, the transaction of the weapons were recent, and you had been able to confiscate the money that was used to buy the weapons," Brea nodded.

"Yes… and using the serial numbers of the notes we confiscated, we realized that the money used to buy the guns were the stolen money from the banks," Kudo shook her head.

"Quite… his first mistake," Brea stated.

"No, something's not right there," Kudo muttered.

"What?"

"I… I can't describe it fully, but to me, it seemed a bit… convenient," Kudo shook her head. "I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore." She paused slightly. "Yeah… it may be his first mistake. It connected the robberies to him. He was careless after he got away with his first crimes."

"Well, show's he's still a human being," Brea smirked slightly. "He makes mistakes."

Kudo didn't reply to that anymore, but continued to listen, though a nagging part of her head seemed to bother her. She ignored it as Brea continued.

"During the chaos, it seemed that a few inmates had broken through a bank, a computer store, and the supermarket. Stole several of items, including a News Van out of random… or so we thought. After that, everything suddenly seemed to calm down… until after a month or so when he finally revealed himself to the public."

Kudo nodded.

It was a chilling September day when he struck again, this time suddenly appearing in TVs, computers, and cell phones, when he finally showed himself fully. A grinning man whose stark white face contorted as his red lips smiled towards everyone watching. Kudo remembered the day well as she had been watching the news at her home when he appeared.

'_Good evening Japan! Welcome to my humble show!'_

The sound of muted clapping was heard, though it seemed that the man was expecting something much more as he approached the live audience. The camera followed him as he talked to another man sitting, clapping in slow motion

'_Well come on! Aren't all of you happy? Come, on, clap! Ah… we gotta work on that.'_

Kudo wouldn't have found it any more interesting if it wasn't for the fact that the man on her set was the same man who was described breaking the inmates out of the asylum… and then, she had recognized the man in the audience. It was one of those escape convicts.

'_Tonight… we have a very great show for you! Our guest this evening is a promising young college student who had recently made it to the Dean's List in University of Tokyo! She has hazel-nut brown hair, piercing eyes, and a punch that can send a man to the moon! Narusegawa Naru!' _

Kudo remembered her adverse reaction as she saw the woman's mutilated body. Her skin was already pale with death, her body limped in the chair. Her pants were bloodied, while her white shirt had been written with the word 'Slut' in blood. Her face… Kudo remembered her face. Her cheeks were sliced starting from her lips, which were smeared with lipstick, giving her an unnatural grin, as if she was some sort of Jack 'o Lantern. Her phone began to ring as the Captain of the Force called her, and asked her if she was watching it.

'_Narusegawa! How are you? Are you… feeling okay? Well… no need to get shy! It's not like talking a little will kill you…' _

And he laughed. Kudo's teeth gritted as she watched his white face laugh inhumanely in front of her.

'_Oh sometimes I kill myself.'_

He stifled his laughter, and looked at the camera once again, his face now serious.

'_The bell of death rings three times. It had rung once… will ring twice… and thrice. You know who you are. I will come after you.'_

And he grinned.

'_But don't think I'm mad… no! Of course not! I find it quite exciting to see you two again! It will be like old times! And as you can see…' _

And the camera panned towards the dead Narusegawa again, zooming in her disfigured face.

'…_Naru was quite happy to see me. HAhaHAHahaha!!! HahAHAHaHahaa!'_

The police were on the move immediately. They tried to trace the source of the signal. It was from the stolen news van, and another untraceable signal from the Internet. The former was found in an abandoned factory, where they found the body of Narusegawa Naru. She was found exactly as she was seen in the TV, but with a new detail. Around her were multiple photos of her naked, and a memory card, containing a lewd video.

He had left his calling card as well. In one of her pockets was a playing card.

"That's when you called him a monster, right?" Brea asked.

"That's when I vowed to catch the monster," Kudo corrected her.

"Yes, well, that's where everything escalated as well," Brea stated as she took a few more folder files. "Konno Mitsune, and Aoyama Motoko."

"… they were my failure."

"You did your best," Brea consoled her.

"I should have stopped him before he got to either of them," Kudo muttered. "We had his name! When the bastard just came all over the news, his aunt gave him away! We should have gotten a pattern, or anything!"

It was after that news did the police department receive one of the biggest breaks they had on the case. Kudo was given an envelope without a return address… inside was all the information about their character. His relationship with the victims. His family, his diary, and even an explanation of his apparent change.

There was one letter there explaining who had sent the envelope. Urashima Haruka, the aunt of the suspect. And she only wanted one thing… for them to catch her wayward nephew.

With such information, the Police had requested outside help with this. The government responded by calling Doctor Kyla Brea. After giving her the details, she had immediately came to Japan, and met with Kudo, who collaborated with her. But even with a standard profiling, it seemed that it was futile.

"Pattern is useless against him because of his damage psych," Brea muttered. "Urashima Keitaro… average looks, average height, average build. Skills not substantial. Failed to get into Tokyo University four times. Was the manager of an all girl's dorm, where he knew the victims. Declared dead a year ago. But even if we formed a pattern or profile for him with that kind of info, it would be useless because he thinks himself as another person… he acts like another person. He might actually be another person. The only thing useful that was given to us was his name, and his pre-existing relationship with the victims."

"He's here," Kudo declared, spotting the armored van coming in from the screen. Brea immediately closed the file, and looked as armored police came out, and opened the back door, revealing him in a straight jacket.

"Creepy…" Brea muttered as she watched with fascination, as his eyes suddenly seemed to go towards the camera. He smiled.

Kudo frowned. "Urashima Keitaro… or as he calls himself these days…" and she grabbed the evidence plastic bag, showing the plastic cards he had left in all the crime scenes... "The Joker."

**- To Be Continued - **

_Author's Note: _

_Before anyone complains, no, I am not abandoning K2. I'm still on the process of writing it, but unfortunately, I have a nice writer's block for it. To stretch it out a bit, I figured, why not write a totally new story with something really new to it? I mean… never wrote about the Joker. And maybe I shouldn't. That character is seriously hard to grasp accurately. But whatever. Hope you enjoy! _

_And thanks to Aaron for his help with this. He's a DC fan. :P _


	2. Narusegawa

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**- Chapter 01: Narusegawa - **

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Dr. Brea smiled disarmingly as Urashima Keitaro was brought in the Interrogation room. He seemed amiable, smiling back at her, his head leaning slightly to his left, his eyes studying her. The armed guards forced him down the seat, pushed him towards the table, and left the room, locking the doctor with the criminal in a straight jacket.

"Mr. Urashima…" Brea greeted, but before she could finish her sentence, the person in front of her made a slight annoyed sound, rubbing his lips together, his tongue licking his upper lip.

"No… Joker," he stated calmly. He smiled again. "You're not Kudo."

"No… Detective Kudo is busy…" Brea smiled slightly. "She caught you. She won't have anything to do with you anymore."

"Liar," he stated without hesitation. "She's behind that one way mirror. She wouldn't forget me… no one forgets the Joker. Especially her."

"Do you like her?"

"Hmmm, a bit," the Joker just slid down, relaxing at his chair. "She has spunk. She made me say uncle. And she caught me. I love that in a woman… but she's too serious…" and he laughed. "But…" he licked his lips, sitting up. "… who are you my lovely?"

"Doctor Brea," she replied easily. "I was sent here to do a profile on you. Study you. Help the police catch you."

The Joker seemed to smile, relaxing a bit. "Did you have fun?" he asked. "Put a… smile… on that face of yours?" he laughed. "Or are you as serious," and his face made a sad, puppy frown, "like dear old Kudo?" and he laughed again.

Brea seemed to ignore the question and placed down a file.

"We know about you… about your accident. Aoyama spoke to us before you… got to her," Brea paused.

The Joker just laughed. "Well, after dear old Foxy friend of hers got my little joke," his face went slightly serious, "I bet she told you a lot of things."

"But… it's not complete without you," Brea stated. "I need your story Urashima…"

"Joker," he corrected her again, this time, not losing his smile. "Do you… want to hear this story of mine?"

"Yes," Brea nodded.

"One thing then," Joker stated, his eyes diving towards hers, his head moving, bobbing towards the right, showing his cheeks, his lips as he smiled.

"What?" Brea asked.

"Say the magic word!" and he laughed. "After all… it's not assuring that doctors are rude nowadays!"

The woman looked towards the one-way mirror, her eyebrows raised slightly. Ayumi Kudo, behind the thick pane of glass looked seriously, her hands tightening to a fist.

"Please, then," the doctor finally stated.

"Lovely," he smiled. "It all started in August, right after my little tea party."

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Narusegawa Naru sighed slightly as she exited the classroom. Her classmates were all talking around her, nothing really of interest, but more gossip. Professor Lee is hot, they heard one of the female teachers is having an affair with a female student, so on and so forth. It was like being in high school once again, except everything seemed more grown up, more escalated. Same old gossip… same old subjects, just different people.

"Hey Naru-chan!" one of her classmates called.

"Hey Kei," she greeted back.

"Whatcha doing this week-end?"

"Oh… nothing," Naru smiled.

"Liar! I heard from Metsuo! You're gonna have a date with that American guy you met in the internet!"

Naru frowned. "And how did he know that?"

"Computer 'Haxor'? Please. He's still probably drooling over those pictures you've been sending to that internet boyfriend of yours," Kei laughed slightly.

"He hasn't learned from the beating I gave him before?" Naru growled. "Haxor… more like computer geek with no life. Perverted asshole."

Narusegawa Naru. Her name was rather well known across Tokyo University. She had beauty, smarts, and toughness. The last part was quite apparent to many too forward males who tried, mistakenly thought that she was as harmless as a puppy… she had sent about ten people to the clinic. Everyone who had messed with her can asses that she packs a punch. There was nothing harmless about her.

About three months ago, she had taken her friend, Kitsune's advice. It was time to wash away the past, and finally get on with her life. She went on a dating web site, and met an American. He was rich, his father was in the NBA. And he had a hot bod.

It wasn't long before they were having rather steamy sessions. Inhibitions, as Kitsune had once said to Naru, was nothing more than shackles especially at her age. Of course, Narusegawa wasn't the one who one would consider wild, but she felt a thrill in what she and her online boyfriend did during their sessions.

Of course, Metsuo, tried to blackmail her one day, appearing in front of her with a few pictures she had sent to Joe (the American), claiming to have hacked in her computer. After she made sure Metsuo wasn't actually Joe, she broke his jaw and face, and forced him to swear of silence unless he wanted her to castrate him. Being a wimp, he just nodded, and came to school the next day, claiming he fell off a long stairwell.

It was a cold day in September when Joe said that he was going to visit her. Excited, she set up a date with him in a fancy restaurant. She did most of the work… reserving a table at the time of their date, but she knew she was going to be well compensated. She wondered slightly if she was going to go all the way with him, or tease him for another time.

"So, what? You going on a date?" Kei asked.

"Yeah, yeah, so stop bothering me," Naru muttered.

"Aren't you scared?"

"About?"

Kei looked around. "Haven't you been following the news? Some nut broke a few more nuts out of the nuthouse. The police only caught a few of them… who knows where the others are?" she shuddered.

"Ha! If some psycho comes at me, I'll send him flying away," Naru scoffed. She raised her fist.

"They have guns..." Kei stated with a small smile. She always loved Naru's little act, even though sometimes she would be over her head. Her friend seemed to have this notion that nothing could stop her.

"So?" Naru chuckled. "They're brainless. They'll probably shoot ten paces away from me."

And after that, they went back to what girls usually did best. Gossip. But this time, it was away from current events the whole country found important, to a events that only the two of them found significant. Her date with her American boyfriend.

----

Narusegawa hurried to her apartment. It was different from Hinata-sou, but she missed only the company of her friends... and of course, Shinobu's cooking. She looked at the group picture of them together in the house before the perverted manager came in and ruined their peaceful lives. She frowned.

"No... don't think about him," she muttered. It wasn't her fault. It was his. He had to come up her room when she... ugh. She growled. He deserved it. She was a bit sorry of his death, but how would she know?

She opened her closet, and took out a rather beautiful dress that Joe had sent her. She couldn't afford such a fine dress, but Joe was smitten by her. He said he would spoil her. She smiled at that.

Of course, she had her reservations. Sure, he had sent a few pictures of himself, naked or otherwise, and he seemed nice enough... but if he was a pervert, well... her fists of fury will be busy pounding some American beef.

Her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"_Hello... this is Mr. Kerr's driver_," the voice from the other line replied. It was an American. "_Is this Ms. Narusegawa_?"

Kerr... that was Joe's last name. Driver? Wow... he does sound rich, she thought. She was slightly amazed how her English improved from the first time she met Joe. She had studied some in Tokyo University, of course, but Joe at the beginning, had laughed at how her English writing came out wrong at times. When they had voice chats, he diligently taught her more about English more than what some Professors were allowed to teach. Curse words, slang, and over time, Naru was speaking almost like an American, though her accent was still heavy.

Joe didn't mind though. He found it cute.

"_Oh! Good evening!_" she greeted back in English.

"_Mr. Kerr would like to offer you a ride to your date. I will be in your apartment in half an hour._"

"_Oh, thank you very nice. I will be waiting,_" Naru replied with a small smile on her face. A chauffer! For her date! How delightful. Naru felt that her day would be absolutely perfect.

She went towards the mirror, put her glasses down, and went for her contact lens case. For a perfect day, it needs a perfect looking girl.

----

Naru's happiness rose to whole new level when a limousine turned up at her apartment. Many stared as she came down, wearing a long coat to hide her dress, as a big muscled man in a suit came from the driver's seat, and opened the door for her. Closing behind her, she relaxed, took some drinks present in the mini-bar, and the driver went on his way.

He was silent, as if talking was not something he was really good at. However, it suited Naru just fine as she watched with slight interest as the city passed her by through the heavy tinted window. She wasn't in a mood to talk anyway. She was thinking more of what to do once she meets Joe.

Again, her thoughts dwindled towards the past, but she forced herself away from it. She took a deep breathe, and drank more spirits. She wondered when she was going to arrive.

About ten minutes later, the limousine stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. Naru smiled. She waited until the chauffer opened the door before she stepped out. That's when the man finally spoke.

"_Mr. Kerr will be arriving shortly._"

Naru nodded, and went in the restaurant, and took her place in the reserved table.

For the first five minutes, she entertained herself by tapping on the table, but after that, her elbows were firmly at the tablecloth. She always looked left and right, hoping to see a man walk towards the table that was not wearing a penguin suit, asking her if she wanted to order. For twenty minutes, her patience was running thin, and almost abruptly left the table if it wasn't for the approaching chauffer.

"_I am sorry, Ms. Narusegawa, but Mr. Kerr will be arriving right about now. He told me to give you this as a means of apology…_"

Naru grabbed the box with a slight grunt. It had better be some diamond necklace or else…

Her train of thoughts stopped suddenly as she found an odd item inside. It looked like a gas mask. She looked up towards the big man, about to ask her what this was all about when he too was putting on a gas mask. Everything after that turned to complete chaos.

One of the waiters seemed to shout, and everyone stood up as they looked. Green gas began to emit all over the place through the ventilation shafts and spread around her. Naru watched in horror as the people began to grab their necks, coughing, gasping, and turning pale as they dropped to the ground. She immediately wore the gas mask.

What was going on here? What happened? These thoughts were never voiced, but her eyes darted as the fear of death immobilized her. People were dropping like flies, obviously dead. Men in their fancy suits, wooing women… waiters… she suspected even the kitchen staff were also dead.

The gas slowly began to clear, and the muscled man, after a moment, took off his mask. Naru didn't. She was too afraid to do so.

The door opened with force as a new person emerged from the outside. Naru's first thought through her head was seeing how colorful the man seemed. White skin, red lips, and his hair was in a dark shade of green. He looked like a clown. A well dressed clown. Purple jacket, purple pants… green vest, and multi-colored shirt underneath. His shoes were leather, yet obviously worn.

He smiled like a clown… yet his eyes… his eyes disturbed her very much. As he approached, Naru couldn't help but feel that she recognized him.

"Heeeeeeellllooooo Naru!" he greeted in Japanese. "Sorry I'm late, _dahling_, but you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get here from the sewage system," and he laughed.

His finger suddenly tapped the mask she was wearing.

"No need for that anymore," he said.

Naru, after much hesitation, finally lowered the mask. Her voice quivered, choking on the question she was about to ask… "Wh… who are you?" she asked.

"I am… the Joker," he suddenly stood up, and spread his arms. "I am the clown Casanova!" and he winked, exaggerated, "Ace of Knaves! And all the whoop-deeoop!" and he laughed again. "Ooh, I gotta write that. After all, if I want a name… it should be done in multiple choice! HahAhAhaHahA!"

Naru tried to steel herself as this clown finally settled down. He's probably a psycho… he is brainless. Laughing like some sort of dork… she forgot completely that he probably killed everyone in the restaurant.

"Look here, white face," Naru growled, though still not with the usual fire she normally had. "If you don't leave now I'm going to take you down."

"Oh, but why?" he asked with an exaggerated pout. "After all… you did set up our date."

"Date? What are you talking about? I didn't set a date with **you**!"

"Oh, of course, of course… you probably know me as Joe…" he smiled. "Dean's list, and yet you cannot see it now?"

Naru's mouth opened. Joe Kerr. Joker.

"Or did you expect a buff blonde blue-eyed gaijin with a six pack?" the Joker chuckled darkly. "Ah… I'm sorry my dear… but that man is a model for a petty female-oriented site…" and he whispered the last part, "and of course… those who prefer the same sex."

Naru felt humiliated. She was tricked. By a psycho clown. He was laughing again… at her! Each "ha" of his began to grate her. Her fists were shaking, clenched, hard as a rock. He dangled some model's pictures at her, and he bit it.

"Listen here, asshole," she growled… but she didn't finish as he grinned.

"Oooh, yeah… that is the Narusegawa I remember… such fire in your eyes, such passion… especially against… what did you call me again? A pervert? A no good ronin?" he smiled widely.

Naru froze as if she was struck. She stood up slightly, walking back, while the Joker seemed to relax at his chair.

She recognized him…

"You…" she whispered. "It… it can't be. You're dead…!"

"Oh, am I now?" he laughed again. "Well… legally, I am dead, Narusegawa… due to your little outbursts."

"It wasn't my fault…!" her face was pale. "It was yours! Yours!"

"As always, blaming other people for your mistakes," he grinned, though this time, losing its mirth. "I always wondered… what was it that I liked you for? Maybe its time to look for a new girl…" he paused. After a moment, his grin widened, this time, showing more enthusiasm than earlier, and said, "Or maybe just change you for the better? Oh, yes… I like the sound of that."

Naru ran. She ran away from him as fast as she could. Behind her, the Joker looked calmly at the buffed man.

"We have a runner," he said. The man was unspoken. "Well… it is more fun that way. Bob. Gun."

Handing a pistol to him, the Joker took aim and shot without pause. A small arrow flew from the chamber, and hit Naru right on the back, but she kept running. However, after seconds, she realized there was something wrong with her body. Her speed dropped. She stopped for a moment, and felt her back, finding the arrow in her lower side. She pulled it out.

A tranquilizer bullet.

Her head began to spin, as her body leaned on one of the pillars as she watched the man of her past dancing towards her, whistling an upbeat tune.

"And a WHEEE around the Merry-go-round we go!" and laughed as he finally approached the fallen Naru. "Bwye bwye sleepy… I will see you… next time…" and he laughed harder than he ever did. The last thing Naru could hear was his laughter before everything turned black.

----

"Wakey, wakey, sleepy head…"

Naru was jolted back to reality, feeling a cold shiver down her back. She looked up to see his grinning face. She suddenly tried to move, but her arms and legs were weighed down, tied. Her mouth tried to close, but something is forcing them open. She could only scream out curses that came out wrong.

"Now that you're awake… Nurse… carving knife please…"

Naru's eyes widened as she watched a slender gloved hand came to view, handing the psycho clown a knife with a curved edge.

"Here you go, Mr. J…" and her face came to view as she giggled.

"Mr. J… ooh, I like that," he replied to her, smiling. "But now… it's Dr. J."

"Of course… doctor…" and she giggled again.

Naru thrashed. She knew her! She knew her! Why is she…? She screamed, and thrashed some more.

"Don't worry, Narusegawa," he said with a twisted smile… his eyes blazing slightly. "I will just put a smile on that face."

Naru could only scream.

-----------------------------------

"So… it was revenge?" Brea asked.

"No, quite the opposite, really. She was in dire need of a make-over," the Joker replied. "But… poor Naru… I forgot to give her some sedative to make the operation… manageable. She died of shock." He grinned. "But then again… how do you make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, eh?" and he laughed.

Kudo couldn't stand it anymore. She burst through the interrogation room, startling Brea in the process as she dove for him. Pushing him down to the ground, she dragged him up, and pushed him hard against the wall.

"Shut it! You killed 32 people in that restaurant, and you defaced that poor woman, and you have the gall to laugh about it!?" she growled.

"My, my, detective… it's so good to see you again," the Joker licked his lips.

"WHY!" she shouted. "WHY DID YOU DO IT!? HUH! ANSWER YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"I wanted to be alone with her, that's why I killed those people… and I wanted to give Naru a make-over," he cackled. "Hehehe… detective… is that your fist raised?"

Kudo noticed her arm at the side of her head, wanting to explode in action.

"Come on!" he licked his lips again, smiling. "Want to? Hit me!"

"Kudo stop…" Brea's hands softly held Kudo's clenched fists. "This isn't you…"

Her fist flew suddenly, but instead of hitting the Joker, struck the wall a few centimeters from his ear. She wanted to see him gasp in surprise… see him tremble slightly… but what she got was something quite the opposite. He began laughing, like he found the whole thing funny.

"HahAHAhaHAHaha!!! HahaHAhaHaha!! Detective… never hold a gun! You missed me! HAhaHAHAhaHA!!!"

Kudo growled… and with a last push to the wall, she let him go.

She cursed. She went straight to the water closet, leaving the interrogation room, the Joker, and Brea behind, and cursed. She turned the tap on and rubbed her face hard with water. She looked through the mirror, and saw his face, laughing at her.

She punched the glass, smashing the mirror to a hundred pieces. But the laughing never stopped.

It never stopped.

**- To Be Continued - **

_Author's Notes: _

_After doing the prologue, this came rather easy. Still difficult as well. Oh well. Enjoy. _

_Again, thanks to Aaron for helping. : )_


	3. Konno

-----------------------------

**- Chapter 02: Konno - **

-----------------------------

Detective Kudo stared at her reflection, the sound of his laughing vibrating, ringing in her ears. Her eyes narrowed as she felt the pain finally register in her head, feeling her hand throbbing. The broken glass pieces had penetrated her skin, and her blood was flowing slowly, dripping down the sink.

"My God, Kudo!"

The laughter ceased as the detective spotted Brea entered the room. Her gentle hands grabbed the detective's calloused and cut one.

"What's wrong with you?" Brea asked, opening the cold tap, and placing the hand under the torrent of water. "Look at that… some glass pieces are stuck… we need to clean this! What were you thinking!?"

Kudo was led out of the water closet, and dragged towards the clinic where Brea took a few bandages, cotton balls and disinfectant. She took a tweezers to take out some of the imbedded glass, and put some disinfectant on the cotton, and swabbed it over her wounds. Kudo flinched as her hand burned.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Brea asked as she began to wrap the bandages around Kudo's hand.

"Sorry… I… lost control," she finally muttered, though heavily muted. "He got on my nerve. Shouldn't have happened."

"You're just not experienced," Brea smiled kindly at her. "You are young… and I am guessing this is the first time you met someone like him. I was like you once," Brea paused for a moment, checking the bandages again to see if she had made a mistake in tying it. "I was fine with normal criminals. They all stick to one pattern, with a few changes between. But… as I continued to profile more and more people, I had a few run-ins with a few… crazies."

Putting through the final touches, the doctor tied a tight knot to hold the dressing together.

"You caught him with deductive reasoning… which is good in most cases," Brea stated. "But… he got to you, psychologically. Like me… you're interested. For every crime there is a motive… and usually, motives are results of simple emotions, but… that Urashima guy… that Joker… he isn't normal. You want to know what makes him tick."

Kudo looked at Brea's eyes, and looked down. She was right, of course. A case is never complete without the three most important aspects of any investigation. Motive, Means, and Evidence. They got the evidence on him… she could deduce how he flowed from point A, to point B… but what did he want? He was either too vague, or too unhinged to even answer the question.

Brea seemed interested too. A few months ago, she had first refused to come because she was on her vacation leave. But then Kudo had left a message, explaining with a brief, if not rather detailed, information about the Joker. Brea immediately called back, and said she was coming and wanted full access to Urashima's files.

They met a few days later, exchanged a few pleasantries, and buckled down in the police department for following months. Brea did excellent work while toiling in the police computer that gave her unrestricted access to his files from the Japanese Government, coloring the life of Urashima Keitaro, while Kudo was leading the police investigation in catching him.

"I… I want to understand him," Kudo muttered.

Brea looked at her for a moment. She smiled. "If you promise to behave and control yourself… I have a means to help you with that."

-----------------------------

"Ooohhh, doctor, welcome back," the Joker said. And he looked up as a new figure emerged from the open doorway. His smile widened. "And detective…! What a pleasant surprise."

Kudo didn't reply. It wasn't her idea. It was Brea's. If there is a thin line between genius and madness, it seemed the doctor's was a bit in the mad side.

"_The best way to understand any man is to sit down in front of him, and listen to him talk." _

She had almost broke the guy's skull, and Brea wants her to sit in front of the Joker?

Kudo looked at him, her eyes narrowing, studying his details, his form. Like earlier, he showed no signs of fear… he looked at her with a smile.

He is finding the whole thing rather funny.

Brea's hands grabbed Kudo's hard. The detective noticed that she was clenching her uninjured hand hard. She slowed her breathing. She calmed herself down.

"No need to stop her, good doctor…" Joker stated.

Did he know she was going to hit him? Kudo wondered momentarily, but cleared her head when he grinned again.

"So… what brings our humble detective to our abode? Not having fun in the stands? You want the best seats in the house? Careful now… front lines are always risky… even in entertainment." And he laughed.

"Detective Kudo wants to hear your story as well," Brea stated softly.

"Oh?" the Joker licked his upper lip again.

"And she promised to behave. No more outbursts like earlier," Brea added, this time with more force than earlier.

"That's no fun!" he turned his head, frowning. He looked back at them, smiled. "After all... the most sensible way to live in this crazy world is to live without rules." And he laughed softly, leaned back, and relaxed.

"What if I don't feel like saying my story now?" he suddenly asked, his eyes looking towards Kudo. "What if I don't want serious-McPoopface listening to my epic grandiose story?"

Kudo's eyes looked back at his, challengingly. She didn't need to turn her eyes to see Brea looking at her. She slowed her breathing down, trying to calm herself. Her eyes looked slightly towards the lower left side of her sockets... and she looked back at Joker again, with a slight (if forced) smile.

"Please, tell me your story," she said without emotion.

One of Joker's eyebrows rose, and his lips cracked, widening, forming a large smile.

"Konno Mitsune... or as her friends call her... Kitsune," he started.

**----**

Konno 'Kitsune' Mitsune answered her phone in the third ring. She hadn't wanted to take the call. She didn't want a phone, actually. She rarely went out these days. Her only companion in her new, base and barricaded apartment was the newspaper delivered to her doorstep at exactly 5:55 AM, her books, and her TV.

"Kitsune?"

Female voice. Recognizable, even after these few months.

"Motoko... what do you want?" Kitsune asked.

"How... how are you? How's everything?"

"What do you want Aoyama?" Kitsune asked with more force. It wasn't like Motoko to be all sociable... but she didn't know how much they both have changed for the past few weeks.

In a cold day of September, both had seen the most horrendous spectacle they have ever witnessed. Narusegawa Naru... a common friend of theirs, dead, mutilated... by him. A man they thought was dead. And his warning was clear to them both.

He was coming after them.

"Have you... seen him?"

Kitsune's throat growled. How stupid could her samurai friend be? Oh, but sure... her friend was the heir of the Aoyama family lineage. She has probably ten to hundreds of bodyguards at her disposal. She also knew how to cleave stone! And what does Kitsune have? Nothing. Other than a trust fund her grandfather left for her, which she had spent a great deal moving around, Kitsune had nothing. A supposed dead mad man out there had killed her friend... and now he's going after her...

"Take a hike, Aoyama," Kitsune muttered, and almost hung up the phone when she heard the samurai girl shouting to her to wait. "What?" she asked.

"Kitsune... look..." Motoko's voice was slightly shaking, nervous. "Maybe... maybe we ought to go to the police..."

"Why don't you?" Kitsune demanded.

"Be... because... well..." there was a slight pause.

"Yeah, thought so," Kitsune sighed. "Listen... we killed him. If we go to the police... its over. Hina was kind enough to just kick us out... but..."

"He... he killed Narusegawa!"

"Damn it, I KNOW!" Kitsune shouted angrily. "I know... damnit I know. But... I'm not going to jail for this! They'll arrest us... we killed him... well, tried to... we'll land in jail for this!"

"It doesn't seem that different for you..."

Kitsune paused. "What the hell did that mean, Aoyama?"

"Kitsune... you haven't been out in that apartment since he killed her. You're imprisoned in your own room!"

"Have you had me followed, Aoyama?" Kitsune demanded.

"I am worried about you..."

"No! Screw you! Don't ever call again!" Kitsune growled, and slammed the phone down, and disconnected the line from it. Dashing towards the couch, she slid down, putting her face down the felt cloth covering. She cursed towards Motoko a bit more before taking the goblet she had left there when she answered the phone.

She drank deeply, and slowly, drifted off to dream land.

**----**

How safe Kitsune had felt when the darkness overcame her. And soon, everything came crashing down as she heard a knock on her door. Lifting herself up, she scrambled over the floor, the carpet muting the sound of her fall, the glass goblet she was drinking from rolling away from her.

Again, a knock.

Kitsune dashed towards the dining table where she had kept her gun, something she had bought in the black market, putting a large dent on her grandfather's trust fund, and an unsavory meeting to one of the Yakuza, a perverted fat man who she had to sleep with to get what she wanted.

She got it when the crazies started pouring in the streets. Inmates from a high security asylum just flooded towards the streets with automatic weapons. She was one of the lucky ones that had gotten away without a scratch, but she knew, as the media said, Japan wasn't safe anymore.

She heard the fat Yakuza got busted by the police. Good riddance, she had thought at the time, even though she had moved out and the chances of meeting him again would be slim... but now she began to regret it. What if... what if he came to her? Would a gun stop him? It seemed only yesterday that Naru and Motoko were whipping his head one way and another... and now... he looks... horrible. What he did was even more so.

Another knock brought her to reality. Kitsune sneaked away from the table, tip-toeing towards the door, her gun ready at hand. She aimed towards the door.

"Wh... who is it?" she quivered.

"Konno-san..."

Male voice. Kitsune shivered. Her finger was on the trigger.

"Who is it!?" Kitsune demanded.

"Konno-san... I have a message from Aoyama-sama..."

Kitsune blinked. Her hand still held high. Her finger was on the trigger.

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"She apologizes for sending me to spy on you," the voice called. "She wanted to say she was just worried."

Kitsune didn't speak. For some reason, she knew that the person wasn't him. Whoever was in front of the door wasn't him. She had repeated that notion in her head a thousand times... but even then, she wasn't so sure.

She moved towards the lock of her door... kept the gun pointed at it. Her eyes dove towards the peep-hole, and checked out who was outside. She took her eyes away. She lowered her gun, and unlocked the door, and opened it.

Outside was a young, handsome man. He looked in his early twenties, younger, if only slightly, than her. His eyes were brown, and his hair was black, dark black, combed slightly on the right. He wore a uniform almost similar to Motoko's... a white hakama. There was a sword secured on his back.

Yup... definitely not him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Inoshi Sakuraba. I am a student of Shinmei-ryuu."

Kitsune blinked for a moment, cleared way, and moved aside, motioning the man in front of her doorstep to get in. He looked at her, confused.

"Well… get in," Kitsune muttered, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, no, Konno-san," Inoshi shook his head. "I don't want to be a bother. I have done what I was set out to do, and now I will have to report to Aoyama-sama…"

"Get in," Kitsune said with a bit more force. "You can tell her I accepted her apology later. Now I want yours."

The man looked at her, confused. He stepped in… and Kitsune shut the door behind him.

**----**

Kitsune could do a few things easily in her life. Drinking was one. Sex was another. For her, the act of coupling was something she was good at… she loved it, actually, especially one-night stands... no holds-barred, no regrets, and no strings attached.

In Hinata-sou, she spent most of her nights away. While Naru and Keitaro were studying away, she was at bars, hitting on the hot looking guys, Japanese or gaijins, who would shower her with drinks, empty promises, and a lot of well-deserved praise (for her anyway). She'd pretend to be drunk, or take initiative, and get to a hotel, and just bounce the night away, and leave before they'd wake up.

There were unsavory times, though. Mainly, the first man she slept with, and the fat bastard of the Yakuza… the latter being the last person she had slept with for a long while. And with _him_ back again, unremorsefully showcasing Naru's dead body for the whole Japan to see, she hadn't continued her "night outs" for a long time.

Therefore, when she saw Inoshi, a well-built young man, who had been spying on her, her libido went on fire again. Even with a sword at his back, he couldn't fight off her advances as she wasted no time, pinning him in her bed.

It was supposed to be a one time thing… but no. Kitsune blamed it her reclusion from society. Maybe it was her libido raging out after many weeks of solitary. Maybe it was the nice gesture of thanks Inoshi did by cooking her breakfast the very next day after she demanded an apology from him the time they first met… whatever it was, it kept her fingers to Inoshi's skin.

She didn't want to leave his side for a whole week they spent together. Inoshi, after three days of being dragged around, began to feel the same. It wasn't long before they began to talk about each other.

-----------------------------

"Pish-posh, now that we're done talking about the boring parts," the Joker smirked a bit, "let's get to the really exciting bits."

**----**

Inoshi asked Kitsune if he could use her phone, which was still disconnected from the phone line. He had wanted to report what he should have accounted for days ago.

"Just tell her I accepted her apology, nothing more," Kitsune growled with a slight threat. She wouldn't hear the end of it if Motoko found out that she just slept with the spy the samurai had rudely sent to watch over her in the past week.

"No worries," Inoshi replied, and moved out. Kitsune watched slightly as he exited the room before taking up her shirt, and putting on some undergarments. She smiled slightly, feeling giddy again. Maybe when he'd come back, she'd have another go at him. He didn't mind, even though he had been calling for time outs for the past three days.

Well, tough luck on him.

Kitsune moved out of her room, and watched as Inoshi talking in the phone. She heard the words 'apology accepted' and then some wound up story telling as he tried to explain why he hadn't contacted anyone for a week.

It was amusing.

The doorbell rang again. Kitsune looked at her locked front door for a moment, before looking at Inoshi, who just nodded. She frowned. Taking a few steps, she took a look through the peephole to see who it was.

It was a woman, with long flowing black hair. She wore one of those small spectacles that looked well on her heart-shaped face, and she was wearing a proper suit, without a tie.

"Who is it?" Kitsune asked.

"Konno Mitsune?" the woman from the other side called. "This is Detective Kudo, I wish to speak with you please."

Kitsune's hands trembled. The police? Here?

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"Ma'am, please, let me in. It's a matter of your personal safety," the woman, Kudo, had stated.

"Go away. I do not want to talk to you," Kitsune stated.

"Please, Konno-san… we need to talk!"

"LEAVE!"

Kitsune breathed hard. She looked back towards Inoshi, who looked at her with curiosity, and put the phone down, hurrying to her side.

"What's going on?" he whispered. Kitsune just shook her head.

"Look, alright, I'm leaving… but Konno-san, we're going to talk, sooner or later. I'll be back with a warrant."

A few footsteps… it seemed the detective was leaving, and to make sure, Kitsune looked at the peephole to see that she had indeed left through the stairs. But she didn't dare open the door.

Inoshi held her softly, something she needed now. She didn't feel like doing anything but spend the rest of the day in his arms.

**----**

Outside the apartment, Kudo looked towards the two officers who brought her here.

"Take me to the station, but come back here and keep the eye on this place," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," both replied respectfully.

**----**

Later that evening, Inoshi cooked dinner, and asked if he could go out the next day to get more food. Her fridge was getting rather empty. Kitsune just nodded, not really in a mood for talking, and Inoshi, being a kind man as he was, left her alone.

Outside, an unmarked car, with two officers (not in uniforms) were looking around, one using the binoculars to look towards the lit apartment room where they were assigned to watch.

"Curtains…" the guy with the binoculars muttered. "Least there's shadows."

"Detective Kudo-san said there was someone with her…" the other guy. "A guy. Heard him whisper to her."

"Gotcha," the first man nodded. "If I see a third person's shadow, we're going in."

"Make sure it's a third person, not some shadow caused by a second light source," the second guy laughed. "Oh, man. I'm taking a leak. Keep the fort down."

The first man nodded, and kept watch for a moment as his partner left the car. He watched him walk for a moment before suddenly the street lamps began to flicker, and then, for some reason, completely black out.

"Damn it…" the man put down his binoculars as they became useless. He placed his hands towards the interior light switch at the roof of the interior of his car, and turned it on. He went for the glove compartment, and grabbed two flashlights that were placed there for emergencies.

Going out of the car, he noticed that his partner was where he was standing earlier, also with a flashlight at hand.

"Sonuvabitch… what is he a boy scout?" he muttered. "Hey!"

His partner waved his hand, the flashlight going back and forth. The first man jogged towards him, careful not to shine light on his partner's face, nor at other places where he might still be exposed.

"Still taking a piss? Come one, something's wrong…"

"Of course there's something wrong."

The first man pointed the light towards the man. The voice he just heard… something was wrong.

A stark white face was looking back at him, with a smile on his face.

"Peek-a-boo!"

A small thud resounded on the air… no one heard it. No one saw the man fall, dead as the Joker blew out the smoke emerging from the silencer.

**----**

In the apartment, Kitsune and Inoshi were on full alert as the lights closed around them. They had scrambled away from the dining area to the relatively open living room area, where it was brightest due to the moon shining through a large transparent glass window.

"What's going on?" she whispered, scared.

"I don't know," Inoshi stated calmly, though his hands were on his sword. "Get your gun… I feel a presence…"

"But…"

"I'll be behind you… don't worry…" he assured, but whatever calmness Kitsune have had at that point, it was all thrown away when a new voice spoke out, loud and clear in the darkness.

"**Ohhh, but Kitsune… you do have to worry…" **

Inoshi drew his sword immediately. His eyes scanned around. Kitsune froze, her eyes darting around, her mouth forcibly shut to push down the scream that was emerging from her throat.

"**Oh, what's the matter, Kitsune? Fox got your tongue?"** and they heard laughter.

The laughter unnerved her and the air was feeling rather heavy. Kitsune looked towards Inoshi, who motioned her to get to her room, where she had kept her gun under her pillow. She didn't know if she wanted to or not.

"**Hey, Kitsune… did you hear about the joke about the fox, the pig and the clown? Oh, it's quite a doozy I tell you…" **

"Go!" Inoshi muttered forcefully. "If anything comes, my blade will cut it."

Kitsune nodded, and with a reluctant look back, she crept towards her room, crawling on all fours towards her room.

"**The fox imprisoned herself in her den, drinking spirits, watching TV… like any lazy fox would do…" **

Kitsune finally got to her room. From her position, she looked around. It was pitch black... the curtain was blocking the moonlight, so she had to move slowly on the floor, praying, hoping that the lunatic wasn't in her room. And if he ever was, she prayed harder still that Inoshi would come and save her.

"**Then a pig suddenly comes in. He says 'Hey… I'm new here. I thought I'd drop by to say hi!'" **

Kitsune crawled towards her bed, towards her pillow. She reached in, shivering, and felt the comfortable cool metal grip on her hand. She grabbed the gun, and sat down, shrinking, trying to get a feel of the floor.

She took the safety off.

"**The fox licked her lips… fresh meat! she thought! And she invited the pig in… where she suddenly just pounced… but no… she didn't eat the pig. She had a little... tête-à-tête with him." **

Kitsune crawled back towards the living room area. Inoshi… was missing.

"Inoshi…! Inoshi!" she whispered hoarsely. She coughed slightly. Was it her, or was the air getting heavier and heavier?

"**The pig, being a pig, enjoyed the new welcome he was having… until the fox began to tear his limbs out when she got hungry." **

Kitsune shivered. Where was Inoshi?

"**Then a clown came in to the fox's den. He had been spying the whole time, see, and he asked the fox… why did she sleep with the pig before killing him?"**

A flashlight opened, revealing a very tall figure with white face, smiling at her.

"**Boo!" **

Kitsune screamed. She raised her gun, and fired away, closing her eyes. The recoil of the gun was much heavier than she thought as each shot forced her arm up as she kept firing. Her screams were drowned by the sound of the bullets exploding out of the chamber until she was shooting blanks. Kitsune had hit the floor, breathing hard, her hands shivering, still aiming towards the figure she was shooting at.

"**And you know what the fox told the clown?" **

The lights opened. Kitsune's eyes closed as she was hit by the sudden brightness. She groaned, shaking her head.

"**The fox said… 'He was well-hung!'"**

She opened her eyes as she heard laughter… and she found her heart sinking. Her mouth opened with shock. In front of her was Inoshi, his face smeared in white make-up. His lips were covered with clear masking tape, and smeared with red lipstick, forming a smile.

He was looking blankly at her, his naked torso riddled with bullet holes. His blood was pouring down his body, towards his feet, resting on a small stool she kept around the living room area. Around his neck was a rope, tied to one of the light fixings.

His hands were tied on his back. His legs were slackened, the rope around his unmoving neck, strangling his dead body. Around them was a green mist, slowly dispersing.

"N…n…no! No!" Kitsune dropped her gun, standing up, and approached him. "Inoshi! Inoshi! Talk to me!"

The Joker, who was behind Kitsune the whole time, kept laughing, clutching his stomach. He laughed as Kitsune hugged the dead body of her lover… dead by her own hands. Her wild shooting had hit his stomach, shoulder, neck, and finally, his head.

"Whew! I thought that joke was done for," he muttered with a slight distaste in his tone. "But the punch-line was a **killer**! HahAHaHHAhahaHAhaHAHahaHA!"

Kitsune felt weak as she looked at Inoshi's eyes. They were dead. She killed him. She killed him!

"HAhahaHahaHahAhaHa…!" Kitsune began to laugh. She didn't know why but she felt like laughing. "HAHAhaHAhAhahAhaHaHaHAHAhaha!!"

"Ooh, it seems our little foxy friend got the joke," and the Joker walked behind her. "Isn't that fun! Our little get-together… I thought you'd be mean about Narusegawa and your little new boy, but you have such a nice sense of humor!"

"HAHAhAHAhAHahAHAhaha… St… stop… HAhaHAHahAHAhahaHAha!" Kitsune hackled, trying to regain her breathe. "WHa… HAHAHAha… What… HAHAHaha! You… HAHahAHAha to me!! HAHahaHAHA!"

"Hehehe, just a little… crazy gas. Something I was spreading in this apartment when the lights were out," Joker smiled. "You're the first person I tested it on. How does it feel?"

"HAHAhAHAhahAHahahAHAhaha!"

"Very nice," and he laughed. "Whee! Kitsune, I never seen you laugh like this! Better be careful now, cause laughing too much can kill. Why do you think slaughter's incomplete without laughter?"

"HAhAHAhAH… HAhaHAHa… Hahahahahahaaa… haaaa….haaaa…"

"Oooh… don't get careless now. You better stop Kitsune, unless you want to asphyxiate," Joker grinned, and laughed again.

The phone suddenly rang, and the Joker looked up, his eyes showing a bit of interest. Kitsune was clutching her throat, still laughing.

"Kitsune, phone," he said to her. She just kept laughing. "Oh, fine, be like that…" and he walked towards the phone, and smiled again. "Hello! Oh, why hello detective! Thank you for finding this place for me… Konno-san? You mean Kitsune?"

Joker looked back at the woman.

"She's having a laugh."

And he laughed with her, putting the phone down.

"Oh happy dayss!!!" he began to sing. "Oh happy days!! When laughter comes! Lalalalalaalala!"

Kitsune just kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and laughing. Until she died.

-----------------------------

"It was quite a reunion, though I had to leave fast because the party-poopers were on their way," the Joker grinned. "But her laughter was worth the short trip. After all... if you gotta go, you gotta go laughing!"

He paused.

"Oh, and detective… I really meant it," he licked his lips. "Thank you for finding her for me. Her moving a lot made her difficult to track, but you did a good job! HAHAHAhaHAhahahAHaha!"

Brea could feel Kudo's temperature rising. She acted fast.

"Thank you, uh… Joker. That was very… fascinating," Brea stated. "Do you mind if we stepped out for a bit?"

"Potty break for detective? Sure. She looks like she could blow any time… HAhAHAHAHahahAHA!"

Brea and Kudo stood up, and left the mad man in the interrogation room. Left alone, the Joker suddenly began singing the Star-Spangled Banner in an odd tune.

"Ooooh say you can't peeee! The detective's wee-wee early flight! What so proudly police hailed…"

The door shut behind the two women, and his singing stopped, though beyond the glass, it was obvious he was still singing it. Brea took Kudo aside for a moment, and looked at her.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah… I guess," Kudo replied.

"He's playing with you… he's doing an extra job of riling you up… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have suggested bringing you there…"

"Don't be silly," the detective muttered as she stared through the one way glass, watching the Joker singing. "I want to know. I want to know what goes in his head."

Brea looked at her worriedly. "Alright… but, let's take a breather. Clear our heads. We don't want to play by his rules, by his games…"

Kudo nodded, and slowly wiped the sweat off her forehead. She had an odd feeling they were already playing into his hands. She just didn't know what game it was, or what cards they were holding. And not knowing was something she hated and detested much more than even the most sadistic criminals.

Not knowing made her afraid.

**- To Be Continued - **

_Author's Notes: _

_About three more chapters if it goes well. Nothing really new… except the more I read about the Joker, the more I can appreciate him. :P _

_K2's getting some progress, so those following that, don't get mad. I'll get it posted. Promise. _

_Again, thanks to Aaron for helping me. _

_Pssst... he's blackmailing me. HahAHAhaHAha!! cough cough ugh... _


	4. Aoyama

------------------------------

**- Chapter 03: Aoyama -**

------------------------------

Motoko sighed as she got out of the bathes. It has been a week since she last heard from Kitsune or Inoshi. She was worried. What if something had happened to her friend? She shook her head. No, she was sure Inoshi hadn't failed his task.

He had phoned two weeks ago, almost a week after she had ordered him to give her apologies to Kitsune, which he eventually did, but he explained with some very odd and obviously fake excuses why it took him a week to report back. There were some scandalous notions in Motoko's head on what happened, though it was only her older sister, Tsuruko that voiced them.

"Inoshi and that friend of yours are having sex."

Motoko blushed, but then, agreed to her sister. It was Kitsune after all…

Still… if it kept her safe…

The Aoyama heir grabbed the remote controller for the television for her room. Before, she would never have thought of herself owning a lazy-inducing piece of machinery, which doesn't do anything but transmit brainless programs, but… after what happened to Naru, she kept herself updated with the news.

"… _as outlaws flood through the streets, dressing up as clowns. This, 'Joker', who had so far eluded police investigations for months is seemingly just adding more salt to injury, without even appearing in public. Juveniles with make-up have been breaking in stores, stealing, robbing passer-bys, or just vandalizing property." _

The newscaster looked towards the camera, with a joker card pictured just beside her head.

"_Those arrested have claimed to be the 'Joker's' foot soldiers. Whether it's true or not has yet to be seen. Citizens are just pondering while the police force is working overtime in not only keeping the peace in their areas, but also trying to catch this elusive Joker. Here today in our show is Mr. Uchiyamada, Vice Principal of the Prestigious Holy Forest Academy… Mr. Uchiyamada, welcome." _

The newscaster looked towards her left, and greeted a balding man in glasses and brown suit.

"_Good evening," _he greeted.

"_Mr. Uchiyamada, what do you think of the surge of uprising street crimes, where most perpetrators are still in high school? Some parent's are expressing concerns that schools are no longer enough to maintain discipline, and letting their students go wayward." _

"_Perhaps in other schools, but in Holy Forest Academy, I assure you that we are keeping a tight fist around things." _

"_Pardon me… but… hahaha… excuse me… Anyway, isn't it true that police had arrested fifteen of your students because they have tried to burn an abandoned building?" _

"_Uh… yes… uh, that is to say…" _

Uchiyamada seemed to sweat a little, taking out a hanky from his shirt pocket, and wiped himself.

"_Well, technically, they aren't our students anymore. They have been expelled when we have found out about their trash-like behavior." _

"_Yes, but… hahAhaha…" _the newscaster coughed, shaking his head. He paused for a moment again, before he regained composure. _"But it was still an act of a student of…"_

"_No, no, no. They aren't students anymore. Trash don't belong to our prestigious school…" _

"_BwahahahaHaha…!" _

Uchiyamada looked at the newscaster for a moment.

"_I'm sorry… go ahead…" _he apologized to the vice principal.

"_As I said… such a prestigious school of ours, with highly qualified and experienced teachers like me would never have…" _

"_BWAHAHAHAHahaHAHAHAHHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHaHAHAHHahahAHA!! HAHAHah.aa.a…….." _

The newscaster fell in front of Uchiyamada, who with quick reflexes, stopped him from hitting him. But the moment he saw his face… he let go in screaming shock. The newscaster was now supporting a wide unnatural grin, and pale white face.

"_Wha!!! Wha!!! Wha!!" _

The signal suddenly seemed to have cut, but seemed to have reconnected, though, Motoko watched with apprehension, as it was not the news studio she had been watching earlier. Instead, on screen was brightly colored background, greatly differing from the formal colors that were present earlier.

And he was on-screen as well.

"**When you are forced to interview some boring old coot with raggedy breathe and falling hair, why not try some of my new JokerIZE?"**

He grinned towards the camera, highlighting a pressurized green can with a spray attachment. On the can was his picture and the word 'JokerIZE' stamped on it.

"**It'll make your day a laugh! Breeze through boring class lectures, and be the fun guy inside your boring old classroom! Tired of your job? Grab a few machine guns and machetes, and use my JokerIZE, and soon, you will be laughing as you are gunning down your boss! But don't take my word for it! Check out this beta-tester who was happy to try out this new product for herself!" **

Motoko's hands dropped the remote as her TV set as she saw Kitsune's face, with an unnatural grin, her face stark white, her eyes open wide, unblinking.

"I used to be a boring old drunkard who liked to throw up after almost drinking myself to death! I loved to blackmail, tease, flirt, and just be wild! But I never had as much fun as I did when I used JokerIZE!" 

It was the crudest form of forgery Motoko had ever seen. The voice wasn't Kitsune's but came from a drunk, dirty sounding woman. Her lower jaw was crudely cut, moved up and down with every word spoken.

Her picture was still plastered when an upbeat musical number suddenly began to play.

**JokerIZE! JokerIZE! **

He appeared on the screen again, smiling widely.

"**See? It's more fun with JokerIZE!" **

Motoko couldn't take it anymore. She turned off her set. Her heart began to pound as the mixture of fear, shock, and anger had settled. He killed the two of them. She had no doubt who he was coming after next.

"So… Inoshi failed."

The young Aoyama's eyes darted towards the direction of the voice, and spotted her older sister, looking blankly in front of her as she leant on the side of the frame of the door.

"Sister…"

"Your eyes speak to me clearly," Tsuruko muttered in a low tone. She shook her head. "No. I will not allow you to endanger yourself."

"But…"

"No buts, Motoko-han," Tsuruko muttered seriously. "The police cannot help you… they'll even hold you depending on what you say. You are much safer here. He'll never get past us."

Motoko didn't say anything as her sister left… but her mind lingered on his clown face. His smile. The pictures of her dead friends, Naru and Kitsune. For the past few months, he'd appear and disappear in the airwaves. Most of the time, she had heard from the servants, he used the internet, creating a group of loyal anonymous followers.

As the news has said, crime rate in Japan is surging high. Most of the crimes committed are done by juveniles, still in high school. However, they had enough numbers to keep the police busy, at bay. The only ones who were delegated to catch him was a woman detective called Kudo, if Motoko remembered, and they are quite short-handed.

Motoko wanted to help them in any way they could, but she was disallowed to. Her position as the heir of the school had barred her from putting herself in any danger, either her life, or reputation.

It was wrong, she thought with regret. It was wrong… but she couldn't do anything about it. Yet.

------------------------------

"I have to say… it was quite a reaction I had, that JokerIZE," he laughed. "My little clowns were ordering cans of dozens! And Kitsune… hehe… who knew that being dead didn't stop that person from being useful. HAHahAHAhahaHAHA!"

Kudo, far from being infuriated with his depravity, was finding herself reminiscent of the case. Other than Haruka, who had given his name and how the Joker may have been born, there was a discrepancy which only Motoko had filled up before he got to her. She had drawn a base where Kudo could speculate how everything had started.

How Urashima turned to the Joker.

**----**

Kudo read the report. Poisoning. Massive dose through skin contact. The newscaster was given the speedy autopsy. Toxicology reports that he was poisoned by an unknown strain of venom, something the police had never seen before.

His clothes were drenched with it. It was activated by the newscaster's body temperature, sweat, and was absorbed steadily through his system. He never knew he was wearing a time bomb.

Running a scan, they had located where the newscaster had last dry cleaned his clothes. The cleaners were, no pun intended, clean, honest and well reputed, but one of their batches of chemicals was tainted. It was filled with the poison.

Kudo got the police to search out others who had been to the dry cleaners in the particular time. Most were sick. Some were dead. Backtracking employee records, there was one man who worked for the cleaners, and quit a few days earlier. His name was Taro Keishima, obviously fake.

Demented, sick minded… he was aiming for the newscaster. He poisoned a batch of chemicals used by the cleaners, and he never gave a second thought about others that be affected.

It was him, again, Urashima Keitaro, or the Joker, as he calls himself.

Kudo and that doctor Brea had been tracking him for the past few months. First was the serial robbery, a case she couldn't solve due to the high irregularities of its case. Random banks hit with a handful of hired hands, all of them dead except for him, who just walked out alive with the money. Some tried to outsmart him, but all they succeeded doing is just speeding up their deaths.

He was always one-step ahead of them.

Now, Narusegawa and Konno dead, it left one person alive related to him. She was sure, because she had seen this from multiple angles. Otohime Mutsumi and his adopted sister, Urashima Kanako were both in the USA, the former studying in a university. She had transferred after Urashima's apparent death. According to application visas, his sister opted to study abroad too.

Kaolla Su, a Molmol royalty, had been called back to her kingdom. The people unaccounted for so far is Maehara Shinobu, and his auntie, Urashima Haruka, who had identified him through a mysterious envelope with no return address. .

More police work. Studying his past revealed a possible motive for everything. According to people living close to Hinata Inn in Kanagawa Prefecture, Urashima Keitaro has been bullied by his own tenants. His two friends, Kimiaki Shirai and Masayuki Hataini were quite insistent upon it. They had blamed their friend's death towards the violent tenants, though there had been no proof.

However, something was afoot. Kudo knew it. Hinata Inn closed a week after Urashima Keitaro was deemed missing, and possibly dead. The owner of the Inn, Urashima Hinata had him hurriedly declared him dead legally, and closed the Inn. She had died a few days later, natural causes.

Still… all the speculation was solid enough to her to suspect that Aoyama Motoko was next. He was coming after her.

'_The bell of death rings three times. It had rung once… will ring twice… and thrice. You know who you are. I will come after you.'_

He said that when he announced Narusegawa's death. He displayed Konno's face when he got to her as well. The bell of death had rung twice. She wasn't going to let him ring it the third time.

**----**

Kyoto… beautiful place. Kudo had taken a moment to mesmerize herself on the surroundings. There was a reason why Motoko would be the last, and she figured it was because she was the one most far off the three (Narusegawa and Konno were in the Tokyo Areas when he struck). She was also well protected by her whole clan. It would be suicide to take on the whole clan at once.

Heh. Maybe he wasn't that mad at all.

The trip to the Aoyama compound was short. With the cooperation of Kyoto Police, who welcomed her readily without much friction, they were able to breeze through traffic, siren on and everything. She appreciated it. She needed to see that person and get her to talk to him.

Kudo was quiet the whole trip, but had expressed her gratitude to her escorts. After all, she was on their turf. She let them talk, more news about the spreading gang waves and crime. Joker's influence has also arrived in this beautiful city. Her hands formed to a tight ball.

Crime was never forgivable to her. Her mother, Kudo Ran, had been gunned down because she was a fighter. She fought off two guys with knives, asking for money and good time. The third man shot her in panic after she proceeded to lay waste to his partners.

Shot in the chest. Punctured a lung. Ambulance wasn't fast enough to save her. She had drowned in sea of her own blood. Her father, Kudo Shinichi, caught the three criminals easily. Ayumi had seen their faces. They were put to jail. That was the end of it… but she would never forget the pain of being a victim of crime.

She swore she'd stop crime, wherever it would rear its ugly head. And now, some maniac is keeping her from fulfilling her duty. She would catch him. Yes, she would.

"Thanks guys," she muttered as she closed the door. They had finally arrived. In front of them was a massive open gate. "I'll be back."

"We'll be here," the driver said, while his partner nodded.

Good people. Like the two cops the Joker had killed when they were watching Konno; another crime he would have to answer for.

"Good afternoon, Detective Kudo."

Kudo looked up ahead. Two armed men, with swords, wearing hakamas, their sleeves tied as if they were ready to fight any time. They were expecting her, it seems. Did the Kyoto Police warn them of her arrival? Well, even if they didn't, with Aoyama's resources, it wouldn't even matter.

"Afternoon. I'm here to speak to Aoyama Motoko-san," Kudo replied.

"Come in."

The place was rich, old, and well maintained. The family of samurai's… the only few who had still follow the old ways, whose presence in the government had allowed them lee-way in carrying such dangerous weapons anywhere in Japan. She had no doubt about their skills. They are reputed to be the best in Japan.

They led her in a maze of corridors and sliding doors. She could memorize the way when she was been brought in. She could take herself out if she wanted to. But now wasn't the time for going out of the way.

"Kudo-san, please come in. Aoyama-sama is expecting you."

Kudo appreciated the escort, but was disappointed when they had led her, not to Aoyama Motoko, but to her older sister, Tsuruko.

"Good afternoon, detective," Tsuruko greeted her. Her escorts closed the door behind Kudo. The older Aoyama was kneeling down, in a proper, poised position. Her expression was blank and her form was steady. She was being formal. Courteous. "Tea?"

"I need to talk to your sister," Kudo replied. She wasn't in the mood to play games. Damn being courteous.

"And what for?"

"I need to speak to her in a police matter. As you know, a criminal who calls himself the Joker has been on a rampage, killing two of her former housemates and friends. She may be next," Kudo stated.

"She'll be well protected here, detective, I can assure you," Tsuruko stated evenly.

"I have no doubt. But I need to speak to her concerning the criminal himself… the Joker. Or as you and your younger sister have called him before… Urashima Keitaro."

Tsuruko looked at Kudo hard in the eyes. They knew. The police had kept it under wrap, but somehow the Aoyamas knew. It was probably obvious who had told them. Motoko. She was the only person who had spent adequate time with him. Even with all that change, even without the glasses off, he still resembled Urashima Keitaro.

"She has nothing to say," the older Aoyama said. "She has no connections with a rambling madman, except she had met him before he dove to the life of crime."

Kudo looked at her. "You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

"Of course not, detective. But your opinion is no concern of mine," she looked at her.

"Tell that to her. Her friends are dead," Kudo muttered darkly. "This criminal is responsible for killing more, and is coming after her. I need to talk to her."

Tsuruko clapped her hands. The sliding door opened, revealing her escorts. She turned to look at them as they approached behind her.

"Our conversation is over. They will see you out," Tsuruko took a sip of her tea. "Don't follow up on this Detective Kudo. Leave it be. You already have a maniac on the streets… you don't need us as your enemies."

Kudo didn't say anything as she was led out of the compound, unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes were looking, watching… and listening.

**----**

Kudo was dropped off at the hotel she was staying at, and asked if she was leaving tomorrow. She shook her head. No such luck. She's coming back tomorrow, and give it another shot. Tsuruko had given her an empty threat. No matter how powerful her family was, there was no way she'd go against the law. She can only go so far, protecting Motoko with civil rights and guards with swords.

She weighed her options. Go get a warrant? At what basis? Kudo had nothing, other than a connection, vague as it may be, between her and the Joker and her two friends. What other options did she have? Sneak in the compound?

A knock on her door got her out of her reverie. Kudo looked up for a moment. She hadn't even sat down. Who was knocking at her door?

Walking towards the door, she readied her gun from her holster. Take no chance, especially with a homicidal maniac out there, with a group of unnumbered blind but loyal followers, Kudo took a look at the peephole. Outside was a figure, feminine, under a cloak. The only thing she could see was the person outside had black hair, obvious over the white underclothes she was wearing under the coat.

"Who is it?" Kudo asked steadily.

"Detective… I am Aoyama Motoko."

Kudo blinked in surprise. This was rather unexpected.

"Come in."

Kudo opened the door, and let the young woman in. She took her hood off. First thing the detective thought was how the two sisters looked alike. The only difference, other than the age obviously between the two, Motoko's bangs were evenly cut, while Tsuruko's had a triangle shape to it.

"Detective Kudo… are you the same Kudo who is in charge of apprehending Urashima?" she asked, though she was quite sure about it. The detective thought that she was making a useless assurance to calm herself. She was shaking.

"Yes," Kudo replied easily.

"I saw you earlier, at the Aoyama compound," Motoko shivered. "I… I am probably making a mistake."

"Why?"

"Urashima…" Motoko's eyes shifted from side to side. She was nervous. Kudo knew it wasn't completely from fear of the Joker, as she was a warrior, trained to fight creatures, supernatural or otherwise (and it's arguable if the former is actually a legitimate claim). She knew to handle a sword, how to fight.

No… something else was keeping her on her toes, making her jumpy. Guilt.

"What happened to Urashima?" Kudo finally asked.

"I… I have done something horrible… something unforgivable…"

And she explained it, finally putting in some holes on what happened on that night, may years ago. It involved three people. Konno, Narusegawa, and Aoyama.

Hinata-sou. A year ago. According to Aoyama, Konno had been in a prissy mood. Urashima Keitaro had completely ignored her… something had been bothering him for a while. His worries had affected his reactions in a manner.

"Konno wanted to… 'ask' some money from him," Aoyama recalled.

Blackmail, Kudo thought, recalling what 'Konno' of the **JokerIZE** commercial had said. It seemed to be a normal thing in this house, like domestic violence. Being the only man in the group alienated him; put him under a lot of unfair bias. Narusegawa and Aoyama seemed to have settled for pounding him away. Konno used her feminine charm to get her way, and used him as a means of cash provider.

However, that day was rather strange, Motoko recalled. Urashima had no reaction to Konno at all… or to almost anyone in the household. He seemed to just float there, caught somewhere in his own world and when he didn't respond to Konno in the usual way (being shy, getting lured into holding her, and getting blackmailed), the fox girl didn't take it kindly. She had shouted, later on in panic, that Maehara, the young girl, was in trouble by the hot springs.

He rushed in, only to spot Aoyama and Narusegawa, naked, coming out of the bathes.

"My temper… I was an impatient young girl, who would just react violently to acts of perversion," Motoko stated. "But… we thought it would be like before. Urashima's… immortal. He gets up easily, no matter how much damage he received. He'd always come back…"

"But not that day," Kudo finished. "We know what happened after that. Urashima Haruka told us."

"Haruka-san? But how could she…?" Motoko stopped, looking confused. Kudo blinked slightly.

"What?"

"No… it's just odd since Haruka-san was as stunned as us," Motoko stated. "We don't know what happened to him afterwards. We all thought he had died!"

"Urashima Haruka sent us his diary, and her own words of what happened that day. She had said a tussle between you three had involuntarily got him to land in an abandoned chemical factory," Kudo recalled. "She must have found him when all of you were settled. She must have taken care of him or something, after the accident…"

"No… last I heard, Haruka-san went on to marry Seta-san, and moved away from Japan."

Kudo frowned. This was something new… a new piece of a puzzle. The whole picture was not completed yet, but the new piece changed how she thought the whole picture would look like. For a while, she and Brea had been operating under a foundation of speculations, which seemed solid enough to act upon, to investigate. Now… she had to rethink some of it.

"I… I should go," Motoko suddenly announced.

"Wait," Kudo called. "We need you. Come with us. I can protect you."

Motoko didn't reply. She stood and walked to Kudo's front door and knocked. She opened it, revealing another man from the Shinemei-ryuu, wearing the same uniform as the men Kudo met at the front gate in the Aoyama compound. His hakama was well kept, and his sleeves were immaculately straight.

"Detective… it's over," Motoko muttered seriously. "He is coming for me… and I will be waiting. I will not cower like some little girl anymore. He wants me… he shall find me ready."

"Aoyama-san… your bravado is not needed," Kudo urged. "You should not risk your life for this. It's not worth it."

"Detective… my family had taught me to uphold honor. I tainted mines with sins that are coming back to haunt me," Motoko smiled a sad yet determined smile. "I will face it on. Either he or I will die… maybe even both. But that is my choice to make. It is for my atonement."

Aoyama Motoko had left without another word. Kudo just stood there, looking at the place where the Aoyama woman disappeared. She may have just confessed to attempted murder, told her story, but instead of cooperating further, she took off again.

The normal thing to do was to stop her, but for some reason, there was something that stopped Kudo from doing so… she spotted something else that bothered her, she just didn't figure out what it was.

What happened earlier was like a confession in church. Motoko, a guilt-ridden woman had just confessed her sins, yet when she walked out of her apartment, she had that steely determined look in her eyes. Kudo took notice.

Then there was that guard of hers… something was different from him.

"No…!" Kudo muttered as she finally pieced it all together. Motoko knew… she knew what was going to happen. She told Kudo her story… because she knew it might be the last thing she could ever do.

She got her jacket, and rushed out the door, her gun in her hand. She flew down the flight of stairs, quickly, and exited the condominium building she was in, and scanned around, looking for signs where Motoko had gone.

Kudo hoped she wasn't too late.

**----**

"Lovely night," Motoko muttered towards her companion.

Her escort just nodded, and kept walking along side of her. They both walked in the dark alleys of the city, trying to hide from everyone. It was a rather safe but risky method. Motoko knew if she was going to be attacked now, she could defend herself well in the narrow spaces, especially if he was coming after her in numbers.

The detective was right… there was no real need for this… but she couldn't, with good conscience, let it go on like this… hence why she decided to hide away, buying her time before the detective finds her.

Motoko suddenly felt movement all around her, above her. So… he was finally making his move eh? She turned to her companion. He looked at her, with a slight surprise look on his face.

"You can stop pretending, Urashima," Motoko stated. "I know it's you."

Her companion looked at her for a moment, and his hands moved towards his cheek, and pulled it up suddenly, revealing his stark white face underneath the latex skin. He smiled at her, wider than she could imagine him smiling, even though she had seen it many times in the television.

"Ooh, this is the first," he laughed. "How did you know, samurai girl?"

"Sleeves," Motoko pointed out. "Active duty guards always have to put up their sleeves in case of ambushes or surprise attacks."

"Phooey. I always thought you would be too distracted to notice… but never mind. I actually was beginning to hate hiding," he frowned. "Did it for fox slut… it wasn't as fun as going towards punchy-girl with full colors! But I gotta say… the commercial made me feel all better. HAhaHAhahAHahaHAHA!"

He let his robes fell. There was a reason why he didn't fold them, and it was because he was hiding his suit underneath. It was a multicolored shirt under a green vest with a small flower on his chest. His thin purple pants had holsters, holding a gun.

With the robe gone, Motoko could see his hands, flesh colored until to a specific height, after that, his skin was all white.

"So… she's into this as well, eh?" Motoko asked, realizing who was helping him.

"My little Harley? Oh yes," he laughed. "But… it's your little pig I have to thank. Without his clothes, I would have never penetrated your little compound so easily."

"And you're going to stop me with your guns? Knives? Maybe that silly gas that you were peddling?"

"Ouchie, now don't be mean!" the Joker smiled. "It's not silly… it's crazy!"

What happened next was unexpected to Motoko. She had expected an aerial attack, where multiple of ki signatures were located. She had thought the ambush was up above… but it wasn't. It was down below.

A net of metal surged up from her feet, surprising her. The material was quite flat, almost undetectable when she stepped above them.

As those above her jumped down, they were towing cables, connected to pulleys that were attached towards the corners of the net, closing around the young Aoyama. Down below, men in clown masks were tying the chords fast towards the heavy dumpsters around the place, grabbed their guns out, and just began shooting towards the dangling net where Motoko was prone.

A ki burst… the net was sliced in half easily as Motoko had drawn her weapon, even in the tight constrains of grid trap that the Joker set up, but she hadn't come out unscathed. Her hakama was showing signs of damage, and blood was flowing freely from her right leg and left shoulder. She had been shot.

"Ooh, now this is gonna be entertaining," the Joker laughed as he sat down in a chair which one of his henchmen brought. "No popcorn?"

The henchman shook his head.

"I would be a bit teed off if I actually needed it… but it seems she's making this as short as possible," he commented as he watched the carnage that ensued. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt," he commented after Motoko mercilessly shoved her elbow towards one of the clown's nose.

Motoko came down hard and fast on all of them. Their guns were completely useless against her as she moved fast, her sword spinning around her body, seemingly blocking bullets coming at her… even with a damaged shoulder and leg, she was still a force to be reckoned with.

"Maybe you ought to help your friends?" the Joker stated towards the henchman still beside him. Without reply, he did so, loyal to his boss. The Joker laughed appreciatively as the clown he sent was knocked out, senseless, in a matter of seconds, and he continued to laugh as he watched, entertained, at the one sided battle.

When everything was over, Motoko was standing there, alone in the street. Her lips were bloodied, taking a few hits by the enemies surrounding her, but ultimately, the winner. Her sword was drawn, pointing towards the sitting Joker, who clapped his hands.

"Bravo! Bravo!" he smiled. "Well choreographed! Well paced! It is like watching real life! HAHaHAHAhahAHAHA!"

"It is over, Urashima!" Motoko exclaimed, breathing deeply. "Your guns or knives won't stop me. Give yourself in."

"Ooh, but sword-girl… its not over…" he looked at her wickedly, his smile growing more evil by the passing second. "You're dead… and you just don't know it yet."

He suddenly grabbed his gun, and began to shoot towards the Aoyama, who ducked, and drove her blade up to block the following shots. It is said that Shinmei-ryuu specializes against enemies using projectiles, including guns or energy attacks, and some could deflect those attacks back to the attacker, but she couldn't do so, with her shoulder and leg injured. All she could do was keep pressing forward until she was close enough to attack him.

"Whoops!" the Joker suddenly threw a knife.

Motoko barely dodged the knife; she was nicked slightly in her arm.

"Ooooh… close one!" he laughed again. "Come on sword-girl! Come and get me!"

He shot a few more times at her, and she dodged and deflected the bullets away. She kept count. Sooner or later, he would run out of bullets. She was counting on that, her eyes now extra alert for any more knives coming at her.

"HAHAHaHAHahHAhaHAHA… Oops…" Joker muttered as his gun was empty, shooting blanks. He looked at it. "Where's the infinite ammo code when you need it?"

Motoko's eyes widened. This was her chance. She charged in suddenly, hoping to end this once and for all.

"Oh well, even without codes, there's always this!" and Joker flicked his wrist again, but Motoko was ready for it. Another knife launched itself from his arm, and she nimbly deflected it. Just a few more meters… her sword was ready to stab him on the stomach… he'd get thrown into ICU, or die… any of those options were viable.

"Its over!" she declared, readying her weapon to stab him.

"Oh no!" the Joker looked at her charging figure, his hands over his cheeks, mouth forming a small 'O'. "What am I to do? Oh well… no use crying over spilt corrosive!"

Motoko's eyes widened as the flower on his vest suddenly squirted something in her face. It hit her like a hot iron. She dropped the sword as her face began to burn painfully. Her momentum was too much to stop, and she tripped, shouting in pain as she rolled on the ground.

"HAHaHaHAHahHAhaAHAHA!" the Joker laughed as he slowly approached her fallen form. "No use crying over spilt corrosive… get it!? HAHAAHAHaHAHaHAHAHA!"

Motoko couldn't reply… she didn't know what happened to her. She could feel the flesh in her face melting. Her cries were agonizing to anyone who could hear her, but to him, he just heard the punch line of his own joke.

"Now, now, let me see you," he muttered as he pinned her down. He forced her hands away from her face, and pinned them down with his own knees. She tried to resist, but he just hit her wounded shoulder, stunning her as he finally got on top of her. "Oh, look at that… one side of your face has almost melted off… that's not good! Not good at all!"

He placed one of his hands in his pocket, and took out a ring with a small spike. He put that in his hand, and pressed something on it. A small crackle was heard as a small electrical blue light emanated from the spike.

"Motoko, my dear," the Joker muttered solemnly… "I remember you as a pretty yet deranged individual. However… you were never two faced. You were the same person, consistent throughout my short past life. You disliked me before… and never hid it. So… it's only fair… to even you out."

Motoko shouted as he pressed the hand with the ring on her uninjured part of her face, feeling the jolt of thousands of volts enter her body without pause. She thrashed as she was continually shocked, her face now again feeling the burning sensation she had felt moments ago.

The Joker just laughed, ignoring her resistance as her flesh burned with the electrical shock he was giving and continued to press the ring on her even after she had, after a good while, stopped screaming and thrashing altogether. He finally lifted his hand, and blew the smok emanating from spike out.

"It's always in the amps… always in the amps," he laughed again. He stood up, and looked at her lying dead body. He moved above her, looking down on her, smiling. "Hmmm… it's not as even as I wanted… but at least no one's going to accuse you of dying half faced! HAhAHAHaHAHAHaHAHAHA!"

"FREEZE!"

The Joker looked up, and smiled again as he spotted someone he had been expecting to meet sooner or later. Detective Ayumi Kudo was there, breathing hard, her gun pointed steadily towards him.

Her eyes stared at the horror as Motoko was there, lifeless, mutilated. Her face was beyond recognition, though her eyes and mouth was wide open, displaying how she had died in his hands.

She was tortured to death.

The Joker just laughed at Kudo's expression.

"Ooh… detective. Why so serious?"

**- To Be Continued - **

_Author's Notes: _

_Two more chapters left. Tick-tock-tick-tock…_

_HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! _

_Have a laugh! TDK is just around the corner! With Iron Man, Hulk, and other great movies! _


	5. Kudo

**--------------------------**

**- Chapter 04: Kudo - **

**--------------------------**

Kudo and Brea exited the interrogation room after the Joker finally finished the story, though it was more for Brea than Kudo, as the detective had experienced the last bit of the story herself. Hearing the extra details of his handiwork, he hadn't told her what she already didn't deduce.

"You're holding up well…"

Kudo looked towards Brea with a frown.

"Yeah… does that mean I'm turning to him?" she asked.

"Good God, no," Brea replied with a laugh. "I don't think you can actually turn out like him."

"Ah… well… what do you think of him, now that you got your interview. Can we put the sonovabitch in jail for good?"

"Ah… I got a bit of bad news," Brea scratched the back of her neck nervously. "His mental capacity is clearly under the insane category. I'll place forth my honest assessment of the Joker and submit it to your people. Your laws can decide what to do then. I recommend he be placed in a high security in an asylum for therapy."

"You think therapy will work on him?" Kudo asked.

"Honestly… no," Brea shook her head. "He suffered massive scarring to his body, and his mind may be completely broken. He's… dangerous to everyone."

"How about suicide watch?"

"He doesn't show signs of being suicidal," Brea muttered.

"I guess that makes it easier," Kudo muttered. "At least he'll be confined. He won't be a danger to anyone anytime soon."

"Glad to hear that," Brea smiled. "Is it fine if I had one last talk with him as your guard transfers him to a cell here?"

"Go ahead…" Kudo replied. "What are you going to do after this?"

"I have to return to the US. My flight's tomorrow," the doctor answered. "You?"

"I have something to investigate," the detective looked up the ceiling. "There is something that is still bothering me."

The doctor smiled kindly at her. "Don't overwork yourself. Its over. Take a rest."

Kudo wanted to. She wanted to rest after a whole year of just tracking him. But… the big picture hasn't been completed. There were a few more unexplainable factors in this case. The Joker was not alone… he had a helper. And there were still a few inmates which he freed, not yet caught, unaccounted for.

She dragged herself to her office, and sat down in front of her computer, grabbing her phone up and dialing a certain person, asking for a few favors. She needed all the help she needed in this case…

It wasn't over yet.

There were still many unexplained factors in this case. Urashima Haruka, who had supposedly sent the envelope explaining the Joker's identity and apparent change… how would she know such details if she had, as Aoyama Motoko claimed, moved out of Japan after marrying this Seta?

A quick scan, she tried to trace out who this Seta person is… and after moments of cross-referencing, she had deduced and found her mysterious person. Noriyasu Seta, archeologist, graduate of Tokyo University. He had apparently spent most of his adult life abroad, coming in to Japan from the USA at the same time-line where Urashima Keitaro was the manager's in the all girl's dorm.

A lot of DMV records… reckless driver. But he seemed to have friends up above to keep his license. Of course, it helped that most of his accidents caused no deaths, and almost no damage to property, government or private, otherwise. He did have to work a lot to keep his van fixed, though.

He had a daughter. American kid. Adopted. McDougal Sarah. Pre-teen. Nothing to take interest in.

Another unknown factor was the Joker's helper. She had a very good mind who it was, reviewing interviews with a lot of people concerning Urashima. She was apparently smitten by him, even before he was transformed. She was the only pillar of strength, the only rational mind that had accepted his presence, and not shunned him away because he was the only guy in a all girl's dorm.

And she was still unaccounted for.

Kudo grabbed her phone. She dialed a number of someone who could very well help her in such short notice.

"Agasa-san?" Kudo asked when the line connected.

"Ayumi-kun!" an elderly man from the other line replied. "I heard you finally caught your criminal. Good job."

"Yes, thank you, Agasa-san… is father keeping you busy?"

"No, actually, he went to the US... he seemed to have stumbled an interesting corpse that turned up, so I've been catching up on the new Quantum Mechanical theories…"

"So… you're free?" Kudo cut him off gently.

"Hehe… I know that tone of yours. Need ol' professors help, now do you?"

"Yes, please."

"Why not use your resources there?" Agasa asked. "Would be more reliable."

"Too much red-tape. And I need it fast," Kudo replied.

"Why? What's the hurry?"

Kudo paused.

"I have a feeling that something big is just around the corner," she replied honestly. "Something terrible."

Agasa seemed to take that in easily because he just asked, "What do you need?"

"I need rumors, files, or anything you can get on Maehara Shinobu and Urashima Haruka."

"I'll find it as soon as I can," Agasa said, assuring. "And Ayumi-kun… get some rest. You sound tired."

Kudo didn't promise, but told him she would take it to consideration. She hung the phone, and massaged her temples. She took a moment to re-arrange her mind, now slowly recalling what happened in that dark alley a few days ago…

**----**

"Ooh, detective… why so serious?" the Joker asked, laughing.

"Urashima Keitaro… you're under arrest!" Kudo growled, the deformed face of Aoyama Motoko, the woman who she just saw alive minutes ago, in her mind. "Put you're hands in the air, turn around, go to your knees…"

"Serious, serious, serious!" Joker exclaimed, shaking his head. "Your mother must have been a horse to give you such a long face."

Kudo, without warning, shot just a few meters in the ground where he stood. The Joker blinked with a bit of surprise, looking at the ground where the bullet hit.

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve?" he laughed.

"I'm not going to tell you again. Raise your arms above your head!"

The Joker smiled, opening his flesh colored hands, showing them clearly towards the detective. And suddenly, threw them upwards. Kudo spotted a small glint in the darkness, and ducked, at the same time shooting towards the Joker, who just retreated away through the darkness.

Kudo cursed, feeling a slight irritation in her arms. A quick check, she saw a clean cut across her arm, bleeding. Nothing lethal, so Kudo just readied her firearm, reloading it with another clip as she followed him in the alleys.

It was dark, smelly and humid… but Kudo ignored all that. She kept her eyes and ears open for him... she is finally this close. She could have asked for back-up with her cell phone, but she'd rather have her free hand ready. Besides... it may give him time to escape... and there was no way she'd let him go now.

"**Ever had a bad day, detective?" **

Kudo's eyes and gun swept her dark surroundings. His voice seemed to echo around the place... she couldn't use it to pin-point his current location.

"**Bet you do... everybody has bad days." **

"You can save the sob story for the courts, Urashima!" Kudo replied. She heard laughter.

"**Sob story? You misunderstand... this is a comedy! It's the life of a man who's dream was to pass Tokyo University to get married to a girl he had never seen for more than ten years. How ridiculous is that?" **

Kudo turned, his laughter unnerving her. Where was he?

"**All it took was one bad day..." **

A fast whipping action took Kudo by surprise as she was disarmed. The Joker suddenly appeared in front of her, swiping something at her. She automatically dodged, but was kicked away, making her marvel at his lithe and speed. When she finally recovered, though, he was gone again.

"**One bad day for that loser to realize how funny his world actually was. He was a pervert, a maid, a punching bag, a clown... and when he saw himself at the mirror that fateful day... he knew... it was too damn funny not to appreciate the whole joke." **

He laughed again, longer this time. Kudo growled, her eyes scanning the ground for her gun. She let him talk, put all what he said out of her head. He was just distracting her... make her too scared to make the right move. Make her do a mistake.

She saw her gun. It was just a few steps away. She took a few careful steps towards her weapon, and was about to grab it when she felt a hit on the side of her head. If she hadn't been careful, nor ready, she may have been knocked out.

The Joker was behind her, swinging what looked like to be a hammer. Kudo's ears were still ringing with the hit, but moved efficiently and ducked over his swing, and disarmed him. Taking the hammer out of the equation, she punched him hard on his face, making him step back, moan in pain, holding his mouth and nose.

He suddenly seemed to spit something out. Kudo's eyes suddenly followed the red and white object that had fallen to the floor, only to realize it was a gag clattering teeth. The distraction worked as the Joker suddenly punched her towards her stomach.

Big mistake.

Using her karate training, she squeezed the muscle of her abdomen, positioning her legs and arms to give maximum compression in the target area. The Joker yelped as he found himself hitting something akin to a wall of bricks, and held his hand painfully.

"If you were aiming to hurt... aim higher!" Kudo growled as she twisted her body, and unleashed a haymaker to the criminal, who flew on impact, crashing painfully on the floor. He coughed up bloodied spit, but didn't get up.

"Urashima Keitaro... you're under arrest," Kudo muttered as she approached him. "You have the right to remain silent..."

The Joker quickly turned to her, sitting on the floor, now holding a gun. Kudo froze, looking at the weapon she hadn't anticipated. He laughed as he pulled the trigger, making the detective squint, waiting for the inevitable bang and probably death to come... but it didn't.

The Joker laughed.

"You squinted! HAHAhAHAHAHAHahAHAHAHA!"

Kudo opened her eyes. The gun which he was holding and aiming at her was now sporting a banner perturbing from the barrel. The flag was brightly colored, and so were the letters, which Kudo could easily make out even in the dimly lit surroundings.

BANG!

Kudo rushed forward and grabbed the gun from his hands, and the Joker swung his free arm at her... she nimbly blocked it and pounded at his face over and over again. The Joker kept laughing, even through the hits, and it fed the detective's new found rage. He could only raise his hands after he seemingly had enough.

"Okay, okay... you win... uncle..." he muttered weakly. "Party-pooper..."

Kudo remembered pinning him down on the floor... she remembered taking out her handcuffs, and taking her cellphone to call Kyoto Police HQ, and have her bring some back-up. She dragged him towards the entrance of the alley, where the street lights illuminated his bloody bruised face over his stark pale face.

"You're going away," Kudo muttered, calming herself down. "You're paying for everything you did, you monster."

The Joker just gave her a bloody smile. "The joke's on you, detective."

**--------------------------**

The phone rang, brining Kudo out of memory lane. Blinking slightly, she grabbed her receiver, and greeted the person on the other line. It was Agasa.

"Ayumi-kun... I got your stuff... I'll fax it to you."

Kudo appreciated the effort, and began to take in what the professor had found out. Apparently, Aoyama Motoko was speaking the truth... according to immigration, Noriyasu Seta had moved from Japan a year ago towards an obscure country in the South East Asian continent. With him were his daughter, and one Noriyasu Haruka.

There was no marriage certificate, nothing official anyway. No wonder they haven't heard anything from Urashima Haruka after the accident.

Maehara Shinobu was not heard from since moving out of from Hinata-sou. Her parents never seemed to file a missing person's report, something that struck odd to Kudo.

"Agasa-san... thank you very much," Kudo said after arranging her new info in her head.

"Anything for you, Ayumi-kun. Now... let me get back to my reading, and get some rest."

Kudo didn't promise anything, but said she'd consider it. Hanging up the phone, she sighed and relaxed on her chair again. There is now some serious doubt about Urashima Haruka sending that envelope, now that it was established that she had left the country before she would have known anything about the Joker's appearance.

Even if she had seen it on the news on whatever country she was, how would she know the exact details of the chemical scarring that took place? Urashima Keitaro, falling in a corrosive batch of toxic chemicals, surviving whilst suffering heavy damage to his visage and mentality...

There was a chance that she had sent it... or maybe it was the Joker himself... but it begs to question why he would do that.

What was there to gain in announcing Urashima Keitaro? Kudo scratched her head slightly. It would have been more logical if he had kept his name quiet. Konno Mitsune and Aoyama Motoko were too reluctant to give their selves away, the latter opting to after she was the only one left. If the police investigated the matter, they wouldn't have figured heads or tails. He would have gone through it all cleanly.

Of course, there was the obvious answer of using the police to find Konno... something that the Joker loved to rub salt on. But Kudo shook her head at that... it seemed too simple of an answer. The way she saw it, as insane as he was, he had planned the whole thing elaborately.

He robbed banks to supply him with weapons; he released criminals from the asylum to have as foot soldiers; he murdered Narusegawa and displayed her on screen, giving warnings to Konno and Aoyama; he got to Konno and used Sakuraba's hakama to infiltrate the Aoyama compound, and eventually, got caught by Kudo. Was it really that simple? Was his motives purely revenge? If so, did she get lucky in capturing him? Was his second gun really loaded with blanks on purpose? He also seemed to have corrosive on his person the time she disarmed him... had he forgotten to use that?

_The joke's on you, detective._

Was that him being serious, or was that another snide comment to rile her up? Did he actually mean to be captured? If so, why? What did he have to gain? And what of his mysterious helper? Who was she? What angle was she on this? Is she going to help him escape, or was she just a figment of imagination, told by the Joker to make Kudo lose focus on the big picture?

Her thoughts were getting heavier and depressingly more worrisome. It also didn't help when her phone suddenly rang, and was about to receive some really troublesome news.

"Detective Kudo..." she answered. "Chief... good evening sir. No. Wait... can you repeat that sir?"

She frowned.

It seemed Aoyama Tsuruko has arrived from Kyoto.

**--------------------------**

Aoyama Tsuruko had stepped off the train and towards the platform, greeting camera flashes suddenly going at her front. Left and right, a barrage of lights, microphones, camera's, and news crews came at her, only to be pushed back by her three male guards.

"Aoyama-san, what brings you to Tokyo?"

"What will the Aoyama clan now do that their heir has been murdered?"

"Rumor has it you're going to confront the Joker... is there any truth in this?"

Tsuruko never replied, but kept walking forward, her guards keeping the media at bay. She was wearing a black hakama, her sword dangling at her waist, held on by the belt on her waist. On her free hand was another sword, wrapped in fabric.

"Aoyama-san!"

"Aoyama-san!"

"Please answer a few questions!"

She ignored them, and walked down the steps where a limousine was waiting for her. Up above the sky, a beautiful bird fell, and landed softly on her shoulders. She took a moment to look at the bird, and nodded. It flew upwards again, and Tsuruko had finally arrived at the door of her limo. The driver promptly opened the door for her, and she entered.

She had waited for a moment until the driver had returned to his position.

"Where to Aoyama-sama?" he asked.

"Police Headquarters."

**--------------------------**

Doctor Brea looked around as everyone on the calling area seemed to be receiving non-stop calls. She had spotted Detective Brea in the sea of chaos that had suddenly erupted. She raised her hand, waved towards the detective, who took a moment to realize who was calling her.

"What in God's name is going on here?" Brea asked.

"Aoyama Tsuruko is on her way here," Kudo growled. "The media is calling non-stop... it's a freaking circus."

"Why would Aoyama-san come here?" the doctor asked.

"There are two versions of it... the clean one, and the realistic one," the detective muttered. "Chief of police just got a call from the Commissioner-General of the National Police Agency... it seems the Aoyamas have pulled a few strings, and are ordering us to allow Aoyama Tsuruko to visit Urashima Keitaro before he is to be handed to the asylum." She growled. "Of course, the news leaks out, and we got a riot out there. We don't need this, damn it. We're still trying to recover from the damage he caused, and now we got something potentially explosive in our midst!"

Brea looked slightly worried.

"I don't like this..."

"Me neither," Kudo replied. "But I'm not letting this farce get out of hand... you can bet on that."

"I'm sure," Brea smiled slightly. "Kudo... don't think bad of me, but I have to go..."

"No, don't be silly," Kudo nodded. "Pack your bags. You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

Brea nodded.

"Alright. I'll see if I can say goodbye later on," the detective smiled. "If not... well..." she stopped and offered her hand. Brea looked at her for a moment, before shaking it, and both hugged.

"It's been a pleasure working with you," Brea said.

"Me too," Kudo nodded. "Visit again if you can."

"I will," Brea nodded. "And Kudo... be careful."

Kudo knew there was no need to reply as she watched the woman who she had the pleasure of working with for the past few months was leaving the building. She had bumped into one of the janitors on the way, clumsily apologized, and left the vicinity.

The detective could only sigh, feeling migraine hatching in her head. Sometimes, she hated this job.

**--------------------------**

The police had their hands full as the Aoyama Tsuruko had arrived, along with groups of the media. Barricading the way for the mob, Tsuruko had gracefully exited her vehicle, and with her three body-guards, went straight through the entrance, where Kudo was waiting.

"Aoyama-san..." the detective greeted.

The three body-guards seemed to form a wall between them, but Tsuruko told them to move.

"Detective Kudo, how nice to see you again," Tsuruko greeted towards her with a smile.

They walked on, Kudo beside Tsuruko, who had her three body-guards behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Kudo asked.

"I am here to talk to my sister's killer," Tsuruko replied easily.

"Aoyama-san... I may not be allowed to hinder you... but rest assured, if you take a step against him, I will stop you," the detective muttered. "No one is above the law... not even your clan."

"My dear detective, only you would suspect something awful about my visit," the swordswoman replied.

"Mark my words, Aoyama. Mark them well."

Kudo lingered behind as she watched the Chief welcome her. Tsuruko courteously greeted back, but had requested that she meet up with him urgently. Kudo stole a look from the Chief, who nodded, and led that Aoyama woman towards the interrogation room.

Urashima Keitaro had been brought back, however he seemed a bit tamer than earlier. His eyes were open though, and he kept his smile.

"I'll just be a few minutes," Tsuruko had stated.

"If you need an escort inside..."

"No, but thank you," she replied. "I shan't be long."

Kudo almost objected when Tsuruko entered the room with the swords she had been carrying, but before she could reach her, her guards blocked Kudo's way, and Tsuruko closed the door after her.

"Chief!" the detective called.

The Chief shook his head, and motioned her to come forward.

"Leave it be..." he told her. "For now."

"You can't be serious..."

"I am, Kudo," he replied. "But... don't think I'm just bending at the politics. If she does something that could compromise or harm him, we're moving in."

The chief of police motioned with his head behind him. Kudo spotted a few uniformed police officers.

"I doubt those three can stop us all," he muttered, motioning towards the three body-guards blocking the door. "But until she does something... we're keeping still."

Kudo hated the idea. There was something wrong with the whole thing... and she could hear her little bells in her head, ringing as her gut kept telling her that something big was finally coming down. There was something wrong alright... but for some reason, it wasn't Tsuruko being alone with Urashima Keitaro... she wasn't particularly worried even if the swordswoman was going to try and kill him.

It was the Joker. Something worried her about the Joker. She felt that everything wasn't over. And everything was just starting.

**--------------------------**

Tsuruko laid down the sword she had been carrying with her hand down at the table. She could hear the slow breathing of Keitaro... very relaxed. Almost as he wasn't afraid of her. She chuckled to herself darkly. She'd change that.

"Urashima-san... it's good to see you again," Tsuruko greeted formally. "I see you're in good health. Apart from your apparent skin bleaching."

The Joker just seemed to laugh softly.

"Ah... it's good to see you appreciate some sort of self depreciation," Tsuruko slowly began to unwrap the sword on the table. "I wish to show you this, Urashima... you probably recognize it. Its Motoko-han's sword..."

She unwrapped a black katana in front of him.

"You remember this sword, I presume," she smiled at him.

The Joker just laughed at her again, softly.

"You know what I will do with this sword, Urashima?" Tsuruko asked him, her voice getting edgy, her smile disappearing. "I will draw it soon... and stab you with it."

Tsuruko exploded forward, her fist hitting him hard on the face. The Joker, still in a straitjacket, was prone, open to the attack. Hit head on, full force, he was thrown out of the chair he was sitting in, and hit the floor.

There was a slight noise on the door, but Tsuruko ignored it. She went after him mercilessly, and hit him with a solid kick in his gut area so strongly that he went straight towards the wall.

"You will pay for your crimes, Urashima... and it won't be in a padded cell!" Tsuruko growled as she raised him up, and punched him again in the face. "You will suffer like you let my sister suffer. You never gave her a clean quick death, so why should I do the same?"

The Joker moaned, muffled through his smiling teeth. Tsuruko's temper exploded, hitting him with more punches to the gut. She could hear him laughing as she was hitting him.

"You find this funny, Urashima!?" Tsuruko growled as she continued to hit him with her fists. "You find this FUNNY!?"

And she hit him again in the face, so hard that she felt something suddenly stick to her fist. She thought for a moment it was his blood, but she stopped when she realized what it was.

Just behind her, Kudo and a group of police officers rushed in through the door, their guns raised.

"Aoyama, step away from him, put your hands in the air!" Kudo demanded.

Tsuruko seemed to shake.

"I'm not giving you a second warning Aoyama! Step away from him!"

"Where...?" she suddenly asked. "Where is he!?"

Tsuruko gave way, and Kudo gasped as what she saw. The Joker's face... was ripped off. It wasn't him. It was some guy wearing the Joker's face... a mask. Underneath the mask was a bloodied, beaten man whose lips were sealed with packing tape.

"Oh kami... check on him!" Kudo muttered.

Police officers flocked around the beaten man. One checked his pulse, the other removing the latex mask he was wearing. They also found a small bag inside the straitjacket... every few seconds, they'd hear a soft laughter emanate from it.

"It's Kinta!"

Kudo froze. Kinta was the sergeant assigned to guard the Joker during his stay here in the Police HQ. He was also the one who would escort him to his cell. If that man was here... where was the Joker?

"You four, hold Aoyama," Kudo ordered. "You three, get Kinta free from those constraints, and get him to the hospital immediately! And you two... follow me!"

Kudo and two police officers ran out of the room, and went straight towards the holding cell where the Joker was supposed to stay until his transfer. It was empty, except for a single Joker card laid there, face up. Kudo cursed.

He was just there... they had him finally, and he just escaped from under their noses! She was about to report the incident to the Chief when her cell phone began to ring. She holstered her weapon, and got her phone and answered.

"Kudo."

"We have a situation..."

It was the Chief.

"Sir... he's not here," Kudo muttered immediately. "He's gone... escaped. I don't know how."

"I know..." the Chief replied. "He seemed to have left us something. A bomb."

Kudo shivered slightly.

"Where?" she asked.

The Chief's reply wasn't easy to hear.

"Here."

**- To Be Continued – **

_Author's Notes: _

_One more chapter plus the epilogue. Enjoy it. _


	6. The Joker

**--------------------------------**

**- Chapter 05: The Joker - **

**--------------------------------**

"_... and the police have quickly evacuated the premises. From what our sources hear, there is supposedly a bomb, and the Bomb Squad is on their way..." _

"_... amazingly, these events are coming in quickly after the Joker's capture, and rumor has it, he had escaped from police custody..." _

"_... whether or not Aoyama Tsuruko, the older sister of the murdered heiress of the Aoyama Clan has anything to do with everything that has been going around, it begs to question on why is she here, and why she is on custody." _

The news media were eating everything up. Even behind the barricade, even when stopped by riot shields, they still kept pushing. A few were apprehended trying to enter the building, and were kicked out of the premises.

Japan was in an uproar. That's what Kudo felt. She was still steamed about his disappearance and the ingeniously planted a bomb in the HQ to assist on his escape. But he couldn't have done it alone... he definitely had helped.

The bomb was placed on the basement. From what the person who found it described, it was a large multi-cylindered box-liked device with a timer on it, counting down at 30 minutes.

It's been past ten minutes already.

The first thing the Chief did was evacuate the premises. All the officers abandoned their work areas, and marched out the building calmly. Kudo had helped with the evacuation. Minimizing their losses, the only thing they could do was wait for the bomb squad, and keep the media people out of harm's way.

"Kudo..."

The detective turned towards the chief of police.

"We underestimated him..." she muttered. "With this going on, he'll be long gone by the time this whole thing was done."

"Don't let it get to you," the chief replied kindly. "We need your brains for this. Is there any way to track him after this?"

"I have a suspect, but it makes no sense," Kudo shook her head. "Too many variables. Even then, the bomb isn't something that she'd be able to sneak in easily to this place. I could be wrong... and that mistake would just give him more lee-way."

"Keep on it so you can get back on me when you get something... once the bomb is out of the equation, we'll send all our forces to track him down."

"What about Aoyama, sir?" Kudo asked.

"We'll hold her for assault," the chief replied. "But... I don't think we'll get anything more than a night in jail. I can imagine myself getting another call from the Commissioner-General..." he sighed.

Kudo nodded. It was difficult. If the media weren't here, they'd have been much more fluid with their manpower. Most of them were used to keep the media back from all directions. Some were guarding the prisoners that the police were holding during that time, including Aoyama, who seemed to have fizzed out after finding out the man she was beating the bloody pulp out of, was not the Joker.

There was another stir in the crowd. Looking up, she saw a fast coming truck deployed by the National Police Agency, with the words 'Bomb Squad' written on its side. They rushed in the free road, and stopped immediately in front of the entrance. The back doors of the truck opened, and out came the unit.

They were fast and efficient. One group began to hand out the thick kevlar bomb suits to the other group. Another were deploying one of their surveillance all terrain robot.

The Chief walked towards what seemed to be the leader of the squad, and motioned Brea to approach. She was introduced by the chief, and the leader offered his hand to her.

"Nice to finally meet the famous Kudo," he smiled. "Sergeant Lieutenant Yoshi."

"Thanks," Kudo muttered, shaking his hand. "What's the plan?"

"We'll be sending our Rockman Robo down there with our finest diffuser. Rockman will take a picture, x-ray of the whole device, and we'll cross reference it with our database, and see the best way of disarming it. How much time do we have?"

"Twenty minutes... most likely less," the Chief replied.

"We'll be out of your hair in ten," Yoshi declared. "We'll either diffuse it, or blow it up. Either way, ten minutes."

"If that was a joke..." Kudo began, but the leader just shook his head.

"No, Detective Kudo... I was being damn serious."

Kudo didn't reply as the Sgt. Lt. Yoshi twirled his hand around the air, motioning his squad to hurry up. Three men were now wearing full Kevlar suits with shatter-proof face guards. Two were carrying cases filled with wires, and pliers, most likely used for the bomb. One had an assault rifle. The Rockamn Robo was also completed... it looked like a small tank with a mounted video camera on it.

"Come!" Yoshi called towards the Chief and Kudo towards the van.

Kudo noticed the park van having four wheels in the rear, and now supporting two metal posts coming towards the ground as she entered the back door. Inside was a spectacle to see. It was like a mini-command center, TVs, speakers, all showing the three personnel and the robot going inside the building.

"Central hub," Yoshi explained. "This truck is heavy... much heavier than standard. It's laid with lead and steel, so even if the bomb goes off, this baby will be secure in place. All these computers monitor our team going in hostile territory. We can communicate back with them. Gives a double-assurance to it. Not only is our team capable enough to handle bombs themselves, they've got an extra eye and ear to help them with complications."

Kudo and the Chief stood behind Yoshi, who sat down a chair, his hand on a microphone. Beside him was the operator for Rockman, who was steadily controlling the robot through the joystick he was holding.

Kudo admired the way they had operated for a moment, but concentrated on the task at hand. The personnel with the assault rifle was leading the team, checking out for them, and giving clearance after taking a look at the rooms they were entering.

"We evacuated the premises," the Chief stated.

"We take no chances. Last time, a bomb maker had waited for my team to take them out before they could reach the bomb," Yoshi replied. "Luckily, our front guard shot him down before he could get to the others, and we disarmed the bomb properly, without a hitch."

"_Sir... we have movement..." _

"See? Scout motto... always be ready," Yoshi smiled. He talked back towards the mic. "Investigate. If hostile, neutralize."

"_Roger..." _

The camera's panned as the front guard cautiously walked towards on the door that was seemingly shaking. Kudo recognized the place... it was a broom closet where most of the janitors kept their cleaning tools. The man readied his weapon, and then kicked down the door.

"_FREEZE!" _

Inside were three men, stripped to their boxers, gagged and tied. Kudo blinked slightly, wondering who the hell they were. She took a look at the Chief, who also looked confused. The guard slowly approached them, checking the narrow closet for anything hidden, before he took out the gag of one of the people trapped in that room.

"_Identify yourself." _

"_We… we're the janitors assigned to clean for this week! Some… some group ambushed us, and took our clothes!" _

"Well... I guess that explains who put the bomb here," Kudo muttered. Janitors have almost unrestricted access to building, only limited to the holding cells and the file room. She deduced with three people dressed up as janitors, they could sneak in a bomb, and assemble it on location. She looked towards the chief, who nodded, and went for his phone.

"This is the Chief," he muttered. "I need a personnel assessment right now. I need you to find out about the janitors we've assigned this week. They must have been evacuated with everyone. See if you can find them."

Kudo looked at him for a moment, wondering how he was actually feeling after all these turn of events. His expression usually never changes, even during the most trying times.

"I don't think we'll find them," the detective muttered. "They'd be long gone by now. They wouldn't be stupid enough to stick around."

The front guard hurriedly freed the naked men, and told them to move out the building. Assigning a few officers to wait for them at the entrance, the Chief and Kudo came back to Yoshi, whose men were finally approaching the basement, where they had seen the explosive device.

"Alright, we have visual," Yoshi muttered. "Hmmm... seems simple, crudely designed. Very easy to spot... you sure someone didn't leave a Christmas tree down there?"

Kudo, had it been less serious, would have chuckled at that. The bomb was a rather large multi-colored box, painted with an odd shade of green, purple, red and white, but its cylinders protruding out of that colorful square package, plus the timer counting down at 15 minute mark had shown that this wasn't harmless.

"What kind of damage can we expect from that?" the Chief asked.

"Depends..." Yoshi paused for a moment. "Depends on the explosives used. If inside those cylinders are C-4, you can say goodbye to that HQ of yours... but I highly doubt it."

"What makes you say that?" the Chief asked.

"C-4 is controlled. The government would know if someone has been transporting some here or missing from its stores," Yoshi replied. "I'm more likely to believe that the explosives inside are made of TNT, or home-made. It won't be as destructive as C-4... but then, if you look at where the bomb was placed, you'd see the problem."

"It's near the gas main," Kudo replied, noticing where Yoshi was pointing at.

"Exactly. If that thing blows, it will cause a chain reaction, maximizing damage with just a smaller explosion. Whoever planted it knew what they were doing..."

"_In position sir..." _

"Alright... moving the Rockman into position," a man beside Yoshi muttered, his hands moving the joystick delicately. "Taking an x-ray..."

One of the screens displayed the picture that the robot had taken. It showed the bomb with a few slightly more details... Yoshi seemed to stare at the picture on his screen for a moment, talking to the guy beside him. They both seemed to agree on something.

"Alright... the bomb is fairly basic," Yoshi said towards Kudo and the Chief. "We can't determine the explosives used, but it won't matter as long as we can take the detonator out of the equation."

"_Proceeding with the diffusion." _

"Roger... take care. Even if the x-rays don't show booby traps on the body, don't get careless," Yoshi replied.

"_Removing outer covering..." _

Kudo could feel her palms sweat as she watched in the screen. The bomb diffusers were careful, their hands very steady. One of them grabbed a small mirror attached to a stick that could be elongated. The mirror itself was able to move to get certain angles. The other though seemed to laugh slightly, looking at the maze of wires seemingly going around it forever.

Like the covering, the wires were colored red, green, purple and white.

"_This is probably the messiest bomb I have ever seen..." _

"You people hang around a lot of comedy bars, eh?" Kudo whispered towards Yoshi, who looked at her with a slight smile.

"Humor is a way of coping under pressure," he replied. "Nervousness is not needed in this job. A little wrong nudge or shake, boom! its over. We keep ourselves alive through small controlled humor. Don't take it seriously."

"I was actually making a small joke," Kudo muttered, making Yoshi grin at her appreciatively.

"_Control... it's too messy... we can't even see what's connected to what. I'm going to see if I can spread out some of the wires to see the interior of this mesh." _

"Careful."

Kudo watched as one of the men started to spread out the wires carefully, and the other inserted the mirror inside. After some searching, they seemed to have stumbled on a black small box where two wires were connecting at it. A green and red wire.

"_Detonator. Kinda cliché as usual... red and green. Others are probably trip wires." _

"Your show. You know what to do," Yoshi muttered.

"_Gotcha... cutting out the plastic covering of the red and green wire..." _

Kudo took a deep breathe, watching as the two began to take out their own clippers and wires. She had a vague general notion on how to neutralize bombs... it was all the matter of rerouting the electrical energy to keep the detonator deploying by putting it in a parallel route while they worked on the timer. If they tried to force the timer off, it may trigger the bomb.

"_So... moment of truth. Red wire?" _

"_No... that's the live one." _

Kudo watched as the men cut the green wire, and sighed in relief when the timer suddenly turned off. The chief beside her regained some color back to his face.

"Told you," Yoshi declared after a moment. "Ten minutes or less."

Kudo was about to reply in kind when in the corner of her eye, she noticed that the timer suddenly went on again. The two men inside the building seemed to have noticed as well because they suddenly stumbled with their tools.

"_Sir! It reactivated!" _

"_It's counting down from 5 seconds!" _

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" Yoshi ordered, but Kudo knew, it was far too late. The men inside the room were scrambling towards the exits, while the Chief, Yoshi and the detective braced themselves for the imminent explosion.

There was nothing. Kudo found herself opening her eyes again, looking towards the screen, wondering what happened. The Rockman camera was still online, and it was still looking towards the bomb. The timer was at zero, but instead of the usual explosion, there was a white smoke oozing out of the cylinders.

"W… what happened?" Yoshi asked.

"We… we were duped," Kudo muttered, pointing towards the timer, which was now displaying one word.

HAHAHA

Yoshi wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. The robot operator beside him was looking very confused, while the team inside seemed to have wondered what happened.

"_Control… what's going on?" _

"False alarm, boys… false alarms," Yoshi muttered. He looked towards Kudo, who was now in her thinking mode. "I don't know whether to be mad or relieved… I mean… I'm glad no one is hurt, but as a bomb diffuser…"

"Let's just be glad that it was another joke," the Chief muttered. He looked towards the detective. He blinked as he recognized her expression. "What's on your mind Kudo?"

The detective didn't answer, her hand over her mouth and chin. There was something definitely odd about this. Her head popped the question: Why fake the bomb?

She couldn't understand it. It fit him… his personality. Hanging out with him in the interrogation room gave her a slightly deeper insight than it did before. The Joker was a showman. He loved to display himself, appearing twice on TV to display his kills, or telling his exploits without any remorse, but with enjoyment. Most of his plans, as elaborately made, were colorfully shown as it reaped its results.

It would make much more sense if the bomb was real. Would it not only fit his purpose of escaping, but also demoralize the police forces, and cause a circus of chaos… something he just loved to do.

Maybe he was just thinking of his escape? But Kudo shook her head at that. It was too simple, and if there is anything about the Joker is that he isn't 'simple'. He looked like a clown… harmless, funny… but he isn't. Face-value isn't something you add beside the Joker…

So… why fake the bomb? Maybe he didn't have resources to actually get one, so he had to fake it? No… with more than 15 million yen unaccounted for, he could get explosives (or even make them) as easily as getting guns.

No, if the bomb was never meant to explode, it meant that it was used for something else. A bomb threat would keep the police busy, buying his escape… but what else? What else did he use the fake bomb for?

And it hit her. The bomb was meant to buy time, all right… but maybe just not for his escape. It was a thought so damn crazy it was exactly like him. The realization smacked her out of her thinking mode as she suddenly grabbed her gun from her holster.

"Kudo?" the Chief asked.

"The bomb was meant to bring everyone out! Someone is still inside!" the detective muttered, rushing out of the van. She pointed towards three police officers who were assigned to take care of the naked janitors, and signaled them to come over.

She moved in fast. She didn't know how much time the Joker needed to buy with the bomb, but she had to stop it. Part of her wanted to be wrong… part of her thought it was too illogical, but after she realized who she was dealing with, logic doesn't cut it anymore. He was always one-step ahead of them because they were never truly thinking like him… and that was his advantage. No one could ever truly think like him.

Kudo got a stroke of inspiration. If she ever called it anything else, it would have been a fluke.

She rushed past the ground. Up the stairs, the three officers followed her, their weapons out as well, though slightly more nervous as they didn't know the status of the bomb, but they respected Kudo enough to follow her lead. Quickening their pace to match hers, they all passed through the mess room, the recreational area, and finally, towards her office.

Kudo signaled everyone to stop. Her ears listened carefully as she heard whispers coming from her office. She was about to signal a formation, when she heard glass smashing, breaking. She skipped her original plan, and just rushed in.

"FREEZE!" she shouted, spotting one of the janitors… the one that bumped into Brea earlier. He ignored her, and just jumped out of the window. Kudo could only see him and two other fake janitors swinging down a zip-line going towards the other building.

She cursed. Too late. She didn't figure it out sooner. She looked towards her computer, where all the files of Urashima Keitaro had been authorized, connected to almost all government agencies that had given his files… there was one big joker card on display.

It was gone… all of it. His name… his past, his records. This was his plan all along. The Joker, ever since the beginning of his story, never, ever, wanted to be called Urashima Keitaro. It was a burden he was forced to carry… a burden he didn't want or need. Even the diary that was sent through the envelope without return address (that was supposedly, though now very doubtful, sent by Urashima Haruka) was gone.

The Chief appeared on her doorstep, his gun out as well. He looked around the office, and looked at the detective with an inquiring eyebrow.

"Chief…" Kudo muttered rather weakly.

"Kudo… what's going on?"

"Three men were in my office. They were tampering the computer connected to the various files concerning Urashima. His birth, school history, and even the files that Brea and I have accumulated… it's gone."

"What!?"

"The three men uploaded a virus in my computer… it probably spread to all the other computers it was connected on. All the online data we have on Urashima Keitaro… it's gone."

"Where are they?" the Chief asked.

"They have escaped through a zip line out my window…"

The chief of police grabbed the his cell phone as Kudo checked out her broken window and witnessed the three shadows making a fire on the roof. She knew what they were going to do… and she couldn't do anything about it. There was only one thing they couldn't delete easily because it was a hard-copy…

Urashima Keitaro's journal… along with the letters that 'Urashima Haruka' supposedly wrote. They were now destroying it.

"Damnit… I should have seen this coming… I should have…"

"Kudo…" the Chief looked at her for a moment. "Why would he do this? Erase his criminal record so we don't have anything to show against him in court?"

"I don't think so," Kudo shook her head. "Brea said he was insane… I doubt he'd actually have to fear anything from the court or evidence we can procure. No… it was something else."

"What?"

"He said to me once that the only way to live in this crazy world is to live without rules…" Kudo muttered. "Rules, boundaries… all the same. And for him, the Joker, his only boundary was his past… a name he doesn't want anymore. This whole thing… the robbery, the murders… I thought it was all connected to one motive: revenge. No… he's gone beyond that. This was his plan… to be truly free, to be without rules; he destroyed Urashima Keitaro, to truly be the Joker."

"That's crazy!" the Chief muttered.

"Sir… the Joker is crazy," Kudo replied. "And he won. The bastard won again."

**--------------------------------**

As if it wasn't enough that the Joker escaped, things never calmed down. As soon as the police was getting back on their track (the HQ was still tense until the Bomb Squad carried out the fake bomb out of the building) there were multiple of calls.

Chaos has erupted once again. Juveniles were beginning to flood the streets once more, brandishing their clown-like visage as war-paint, terrorizing the streets of Tokyo. Calls came in like a tidal flood, forcing the police to, once again, thin out their forces to the point that capturing the Joker (who was still missing) was secondary to keeping peace on the streets.

The police had something to show, though. They had captured the three men who dressed up as janitors, though it's not something Kudo felt that should be bragged about. They stayed where they were, burning his journal and laughing, dancing around the fire.

The two were computer specialists, and the other a fireworks maker. The Joker freed both from the asylum, many months ago.

Kudo sat down on her table, sighing. At the rate where things were going, Japan would change… maybe forever. Never in such a scale were the law was terrorized as much as it did now. Yakuza, though they had man-power and means, never achieved something this lunatic did. And to think… he was just your regular average guy until his change…

She shuddered.

Kudo had an inclination where he was… but it didn't make sense. Too many unknowns were present, and if she got it wrong… it would be something she'd regret for the rest of her life. She needed proof… or anything that would make her guess more than just baseless thinking.

Whilst she was pondering over her thoughts, she suddenly received a call.

"Kudo…" she answered immediately. She blinked. "Dad?"

It was Kudo Shinichi… her father.

"_Hey, kiddo. What's up?" _

"Why are you calling?" Kudo asked. "You don't usually socialize."

"_Heard you were on the spot of trouble, and being a kind father I am, I thought maybe I ought to show my daughter that even though her IQ test was higher than mines, it doesn't really mean anything if you don't know how to use it properly…" _

"Oh, great," Kudo growled. "If you're just here to joke around, I'm hanging up."

"_Oh, you do not want to have some inside information? Something that would help you in your case?" _

"Dad, you're in America."

"_Yes, with the FBI. I stumbled on a very interesting case… you know… mysterious corpse. I heard Professor Agasa has given you the heads up. Thought you may want to look at it before it gets released into the media." _

"What does your case have to do with-"

"_Faxing it to you. Good luck kiddo." _

Kudo cursed as his father turned on the fax tone, and she in turn did the same. What did her dad want? What did he have?

Soon, she was receiving papers… and everything came at full circle. All the pieces of the puzzle were suddenly began to fit in place. A whole crime-spree, the Joker, his helper, now everything was finally answered; her doubts vanished as she realized that her insights and instincts were correct. She got her criminal, and she had proof.

"Thanks dad," she whispered to the air before hastily grabbing the papers, and ran towards the Chief in his office. She didn't even knock in anymore, and just barged in, much to his surprise. He was about to question her when she just slammed the papers she received from her dad to his desk.

"I know where he is."

The Chief looked at them, disbelieved at what he was reading… but he didn't have enough time to dwell on it when he saw Kudo rushing out.

"Hey! Kudo! Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I am getting him," she replied immediately, looking back at the Chief.

"Wait until we get enough forces to accompany you-"

"No! He'll escape by the time comes… I have to go now!" she muttered before rushing out.

The Chief could only watch helplessly as Kudo left his office, and he sagged down his chair. He had a sinking feeling when he saw her retreating back. He grabbed his cell phone, and began to dial a number.

_Damn it, Kudo… I'm getting you back-up… but until they come, good luck, _he thought.

**--------------------------------**

Inside Brea's apartment, the good doctor was packing her things when her doorbell rang. Surprised, she rushed towards the door without pause, and looked through the peephole. It was Kudo. She opened the door immediately.

"Kudo… hey, you caught up! Wha…" she stopped when she saw Kudo's expression. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yeah… he escaped," Kudo replied.

"No!" Brea muttered, shocked.

"Yeah… but don't worry. I know where he is."

"Let me go with you," Brea stated, turning. "Let me get my jacket, and let's go…" but she stopped when she felt Kudo's hand on her shoulder. She turned, and looked at the detective.

"What is it Kudo?"

"You know… if I wasn't right, I'd be regretting this," and suddenly, Kudo punched the woman right in the gut, sending her reeling to the floor. "I didn't know your fighting prowess, so, sorry for being a bit underhanded, but you're under arrest."

Brea coughed, and her arms were forced behind her. She could feel the cold metal handcuffs tightening around her wrists.

"W… what are you doing, Kudo?" she asked weakly.

"Stop pretending to be Kyla Brea," Kudo muttered neutrally. "Her body was found earlier, and she was identified by my father. You're undone…" and she felt the skin, and pulled it off easily, "… Urashima Kanako."

The blonde American transformed immediately after Kudo pulled off the latex skin mask. Instead, what she got was a black-haired Japanese woman who growled as she was exposed.

"You made a mistake…" Kudo muttered as she grabbed Kanako's hands and handcuffed them. "When the Joker was found to have escaped, there was only one person who was capable of helping him… and that was the last person who went with him going to his cell, mainly you. You probably knocked out the guard, did your make-up and disguise on him, and walked out of here while the Joker escaped by pretending to be the said guard."

She paused.

"Urashima Kanako… according to many reports, you specialize in disguises, can change your voice, and even your body structure. You were supposed to be in the US, studying… you were not even on my suspect list, the Maehara girl was… that is until they found Doctor Brea's body in her vacation cottage in Arizona. They just identified her now."

Kudo lifted Kanako up the wall, and pinned her there.

"It seems the FBI needed her on the case whilst she was taking her vacation leave. My father assisted in the matter. After that, it made sense… who you were, the means, the way, and everything finally came to a full circle. The only question is… why?"

Kudo shook her.

"Why? Why are you helping that monster!?" she demanded.

"Don't talk about him that way!" Kanako growled.

"He just killed three of his former tenants and has killed more just to go on his way!" Kudo hardened her tone. "And I'm not going to put up with this anymore! Where is he? Where is that monster!?"

"Monster…? Now, now…"

Kudo turned, letting go of Kanako, whilst taking her gun out from her holster, and aimed it squarely on his chest. It was him… the Joker, once again, wearing his usual clothing. His purple pants, custom shoes, and his purple jacket wrapped around him tightly.

He smiled at her.

"If you're going to talk about me… at least let me get a word in, edgewise… like… seven."

"Freeze, Joker! You're little plan of erasing your records may have worked, but you're not getting away with it!" Kudo ordered, shaking her hand holding the gun. "It's over!"

"Six."

"Put your arms above your head!"

"Five."

"I said put your arms above your head… NOW!" Kudo growled, wondering if the Joker was even listening to her.

"Four…"

"This is your last warning…" Kudo muttered, her index finger now twitching.

"Three…"

And he opened his jacket to reveal he was wearing what she could only describe as a vest of dynamite, wrapped in red paper; all their collective fuses were joined towards the timer with his picture at the bottom of it, ticking down from three to…

"Two…"

She froze. It came in too fast. If he had a gun, or a knife, she'd still be able to disarm him, but a bomb? Strapped to himself?

And as he counted down to one, she took a step back. His smile was still plastered all over his face, showing no fear, just a smile. She knew he was unhinged, crazy, unpredictable, but even then, she always thought the Joker wasn't this crazy!

"Surprise!" he exclaimed suddenly, and something squirted from the bottom of the timer to her face. She felt the cold creamy liquid splatter across her face, and for some reason, her muscles froze. She tried to sputter, wipe the thing off her face, fearing the toxic or poison that he was handling, but she couldn't move. The Joker just laughed aloud in front of her.

"Oh detective! You should have seen your face!" he laughed. He grabbed a mirror from his jacket pocket, and laughed. "Now you can! And look at that! Like some lewd picture off the internet! HAhAHAHAHAHA!"

The Joker continued to laugh, hiding the mirror back to his pocket, while Kudo, whose eyes are the only ones unfrozen or numb, blinked and looked around desperately.

"Whooowheee!" he declared. "How'd you like my new paralysis poison? First batch I had made! Sure… not as fun as JokerIZE, but it has a lot of potential!"

He suddenly jumped in front of her. "BOO!" and he laughed. "Wow! Must have scared the living daylights out of you! Oh, oh, wait, how about this…"

He suddenly posed in front of Kudo, his hand playing being a gun. "FREEZE…! Wait… you took it too literally! HAHaHAHAHAHhAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, I got another one…!"

And his face, for a moment, turned solemn and serious again

"Uh… Kudo-san… I know you just got back from your beauty fix… but… you're son is dead. Why aren't you reacting? Too much botox?" and he laughed again.

He smiled at her. "These are jokes… you can at least appreciate them. Why so stone faced? Are you paralyzed by some new toxic? Oh… wait… you are!"

He laughed again, his gloved hand knocking on Kudo's forehead, making the 'toc toc' sound as he made contact with her. "Knock on wood. Get it?"

And he laughed harder than ever, so much that he had to pause and take a breather. "Oooh, detective… that was so much fun, wasn't it?" he asked, his gloved hand tapping her cheek. "Ew… it does look like lewd, doesn't it? Oh well…"

He walked away from her line of site, and as numb as she felt, she could still feel him going for her pockets.

"Let me burrow this for a sec," he stated as he showed her, for a second, what he took. It was a dangling key-chain, where she had kept most of her keys, including one of her handcuffs. "Being here, detective, I must congratulate you. I never thought you'd actually make it this far… there you go, my little Harley, now get me my little sprayer…"

He appeared in front of her again, smiling. He must have used his keys to release Kanako from her cuffs… Kudo mentally shouted. She was forcing herself to move.

"But we must say our goodbyes… I have done what I needed to do, and now I can face the brave new world… like Columbus when he went to India, and landed on America by mistake," and he whispered, "though seriously, how could you not expect that since he went the wrong way? HaHAHaHAHAHA!"

"Here you go, Mr. J," Kanako came to view, smiling. She handed the Joker a bottle of water with a fitted sprayer on top.

"See? My little Harley had trouble smiling before, but now… she's shining," the Joker smiled, as he aimed towards Kudo's face with the sprayer, and unleashed a cold torrent of water. For a moment, she felt a ripple of response in her body… her lips were begging to gain their feeling, and her tongue was slowly loosening itself.

"And as your role ends, my dear detective…" he continued, giving the bottle of water to Kanako, who gave him something that looked like a lipstick, "it would be sad if you hadn't come out of this without a smile."

He opened the cap, and extended the red stick forward, then slowly smeared her lips, delicately brushing the upper and lower bits, extending them on her cheek, giving her a large red smile.

"Beautiful," the Joker laughed, and proceeded to remove his bomb vest. "Stop me if you've heard this before!"

He put the bomb right in front of her still frozen body, though if someone looked closely, her fingers were beginning to twitch.

"How many thawing detectives does it take to disarm a bomb?" the Joker asked. "None. HAHaHAHAHAHAHAHA! See you detective! Come out with a **bang**!"

**--------------------------------**

The people moved out of the way as they spotted the Joker strolling down the street with a younger girl hugging beside him, his arm encircling her waist. He was laughing, chuckling, smiling as he caroled on the streets.

A black limousine strolled beside him, and a muscled man came out of the driver's side, and opened the back door, letting the Joker and Kanako inside.

"Kuro!" Kanako said with glee as she saw her black cat, and hugged it. The Joker didn't say anything, but sat down beside Kanako, and produced a thin cylinder with a red button above it as Kanako hugged her pet, and scooted closer towards him.

The muscled man went back behind the wheel, and the Joker smiled.

"Bob… radio! We need some music!"

_Bye bye bye… BYE BYE!_

"Ugh, no, no… something less literal!"

_GO! Gogogogogogogo GO! Gogogogog…_

"Too metal…"

_Bang-bang… my baby shot me… down…_

"Depressing. Bob, just close it, would you?"

The radio was turned off, and the Joker looked towards Kanako, who just looked at him.

"We have to get the music industry fixed. We need happy music!"

And he pressed one of the switches at his side, making the sun roof to open up, and he stuck his head out, looking back at the condominium where he had left the detective, prone.

Kanako followed, and she too looked towards the condominium as well, and back towards the Joker, who looked slightly solemn. He looked at the remote detonator he was holding, his tongue licking his lower lips slightly. He twirled the cylinder across his palm for a moment.

"Maybe we oughtn't to do this," he motioned, waving his hand dramatically. "The detective was a fun woman… it would be nice if we could play with her again, wouldn't you say, my little Harley?"

She pouted. "Mr. J-aaay…"

"Now, now, precious, no need to get jealous," the Joker smiled. "After all, the more the… whoa, whoa!"

And the Joker seemed to have lost his footing, and slapped his hand on the roof to keep himself from falling… but when he did, he pressed the red button of the detonator he was holding, leaving a spectacular explosion on his wake.

The Joker grabbed his cheek, and looked at the detonator which was he was holding.

"Oopsie… did I do that?" and he laughed. He saluted towards the explosion, his mouth quivering with exaggerated sadness, his eyes seemingly also shaking, almost as he was going to cry. "My dear detective… I hope you like barbecue!" and his face changed as he laughed again. "HaHAHAHAHAHAHahaHAHAHA! Bob! Drive home!"

As the limousine drove away, up above the sky, a helicopter was flying towards the explosion site, with black cars coming in from every direction behind the Joker. They weren't after him though, as they all stopped in front of the near the condominium which exploded.

The Chief of police hurriedly went out of one of the cars and assessed the situation. Rubble was still coming down, and the stander-bys were scrambling away. He looked above, and shook his head. He looked towards the men wearing black suits coming out of other cars as well.

"We need a rescue team… ASAP!" he ordered, and the nodded. The Chief hurriedly grabbed his cell phone, and dialed Kudo's number. He didn't get anything. He cursed as he looked up again.

"Damn it, Kudo… hold on…"

Up above, unseen by anyone other than the sky, the room that had exploded was now in ruins… but a bloodied hand was sticking out from under the concrete ruble, its fingers moving slightly as the helicopter above it circled around again.

**- To be Concluded - **

_Author's Notes: _

_And the conclusion to Ace of Knaves will be next. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And again, thanks for Aaron for giving me an honest opinion before I posted this (as I have struggled with this slightly). _

_Get to writing dude. XDD_


	7. Epilogue

**---------------**

**- Epilogue - **

**---------------**

"… _and the crisis has averted as the Police Force had finally quelled the last remaining bits of the riot that had occurred last night. But so far, it seems that this is just the beginning. The police only caught about a quarter of the upstarts, and the instigator of all these, the Joker, is still at large._

"_On other news, Aoyama Tsuruko has been released from police custody, and transported immediately moved out of Tokyo to a private train back to Kyoto. Again, her visit and her arrest is still a mystery. The Aoyama clan has refused to speak on the regards of Aoyama Tsuruko or her now deceased sister._

"_And we have finally received word on the status of Kudo Ayumi, head detective of the Tokyo Police Department, who had been tragically been caught in a bomb blast, and rushed to the hospital. Dr. Tezuka, the physician assigned to Detective Kudo, was able to spare us a time to comment on her health." _

The TV then showed a well dressed doctor, while there were many microphones pointed towards him. The doctor paid no mind, even with the flashing lights of camera's blinking at him.

"_**Kudo-san has suffered extreme burns, mostly third-degree in almost 60 percent of her body and the concrete that had collapsed on top of her had broken her ribs, shoulder and leg. We've been able to stabilize her for now, minimizing internal bleeding. She's lucky to be alive." **_

Then it came back to the newsroom.

"_Detective Kudo, daughter of the famous Kudo Shinichi, is under close guard. Doctors say they have no idea when, or if she can make a full recovery._

"_In other news, it seems there has been a glitch in the new digital mainframe which the government had been using to keep records of the public. They are advising people to bring in their documents, and apologized for the inconvenience…" _

The television was suddenly turned off by Urashima Kanako. She looked towards the Joker beside her, whose eyes lit up as he heard the news.

"She survived," he stated, simply. He smiled. He laughed. "She went out with a bang… and she's still ticking! HaHAHAHahahAHAHAHA!"

"What will we do, puddin'?" Kanako asked, looking at the Joker inquiringly. "Shall we finish her?"

The Joker just looked at his little Harley with a big smile.

"Let's do something... crazier."

**---------------**

Kudo Shinichi looked towards his daughter wrapped in bandages, unresponsive to everyone around her. He had quickly arranged a flight back to Tokyo when he heard the news. The Chief had called some of his connections with the government and eventually had gotten Miyano Shiho involved.

She was the one that had authorized the use of the rescue helicopter, which had helped in aiding the rescue team in getting Ayumi out of the rubble, and she was also responsible for concocting a drug that had helped her recover through most of the trying stages of surgery.

The respirator bag above showed signs of movement, giving Ayumi a fixed amount of oxygen pressure directly to her lungs; the doctor also said that they'd use a pressurized chamber after two weeks to help her recover.

There was a slight knock on the door. Shinichi looked to it, and greeted as the Chief entered the room, looking at the famous detective with a solemn and apologetic look.

"Don't give me that," Shinichi stated. "She's safe."

"I should have stopped her," the Chief muttered.

"She wouldn't have let herself be stopped... she's like her mother, in a way," the detective looked towards the window. "She is a roaring tidal wave against crime... and now it seems, crime has found its own wave to smash against her. She lost this round."

"It's still too cruel..." the Chief replied. "From what we can gather with the minimal evidence we could find, the Joker just put the bomb in front of her, and walked away. He just let her watch, trying to get away, before he triggered the bomb."

"Yeah, Ai... Shiho found the kiddo's blood work interesting," Shinichi commented. "Hopefully, she can synthesize an antidote for both poisons... this paralysis, and that laughing death gas he calls JokerIZE. What about his helper... this Urashima Kanako?"

"FBI wants her, though like the Joker, she's nowhere to be found," the Chief stated. "Kudo... do you think you can assist us...?"

"No."

"Kudo, be reasonable... he's still loose out there, and we need all the help we need..."

Shinichi smiled. "And risk the wrath of my daughter when she awakens?" he shook his head. "No, Chief. Keep the streets safe, that's all you can do. When she recovers, she's going to come back with a vengeance."

"But she could really lose her life next time..."

"Maybe... but that won't stop her," Shinichi walked for a moment towards the windows, and spotted something strange downstairs. A purple car. "Chief... tell me, isn't it a no parking zone down that street?"

"Where?"

However, before the Chief could approach the window, the car Shinichi was pointing at exploded with a loud bang, rumbling. The Chief could feel the whole building shake at his feet, and stumbled slightly. Then soon, everything was shrouded with gunfire.

"He's here!" the Chief muttered as he grabbed his radio, and got his gun out. He began to walk out of the room. "This is the Chief. Tell ground unit to asses the situation, and quell it! If it's the Joker, I do not want him approaching this floor, you hear!?

"You three... stay here and guard Kudo. If the bastard really is coming for her, shoot him down!"

The three officers saluted to their Chief. "Yes Sir!"

"Alright, the rest of you... follow... me..." the Chief muttered but stopped when he stumbled slightly, getting dizzy. "Wha... what's going..." and he stumbled down, unconscious. The rest of the people on the same floor also went down as well, knocked out.

Down the hall, an elevator was slowly going up, from floor to floor, until reaching the seventh. There was a small 'ting' sound before the door opened, revealing the Joker wearing a gas mask. His clothes were once again his style, his colors; Purple pants and jacket, green vest and multicolored shirt.

Under his arm was a box of flowers.

"Tweedle dee ba boo bap bap bap..." he hummed as he strolled in the corridor, dancing slightly as he moved forward. He paused for a moment, and looked at his pocket watch attached to his belt, and flipped the cover open, and immediately closed it. He removed his mask, and smiled.

He hummed more as he passed over the now sleeping, one by one commenting with a small laugh.

"Nurse with a big chest... you had passed 'nursery' school, haven't you? HahAHAhaHA! Ooh, old man with a pee cup... sorry about that dear chum, but you'll have to hold it in a wee bit longer now... get it? HahAHaHAHAHhaHAHAHaha!"

He stepped over the police officers, who he looked at good-naturedly.

"Thank you for your efforts, Tokyo's finest, but with all the hoo-hahas going out there, and even now being used to guard the good detective, you deserve some rest," he laughed again, bending down to pat one of the officers in the cheek.

And he finally looked towards his prize. The door marked number 704, with her name at the bottom of it. He smiled as he opened the door, and declared without pause, "Hello... house-keeping..."

He saw Ayumi Kudo in her bed, bandaged completely from head to toe, but in the corner of his eye, he also spotted a shadow on bedside, looking at him. One of his hands were holding a wet towel, placing it in his mouth and nose, while the other was pointing a gun at the Joker.

"Well, what do we have here?" the Joker asked, his smile widening. "A person my sleeping gas didn't get to."

"Kami... you do look like that," Shinichi whispered shocked at seeing his visage for the first time. He had rushed in back the room when he realized that the exploding car might have been a distraction, but he didn't expect a chemical attack.

When he saw that the Chief was stumbling, he knew something was wrong. He had immediately grabbed a towel, went back to Ayumi's room, moistened it in the bathroom, and took approached his daughter's bed side, where he got her service gun out, and waited for anyone to come in the room.

He disliked guns... and disliked more wielding one. But he didn't have much choice now. And now, he was seeing the Joker for the first time. He was a bit confused at what to do.

"Awestruck by my handsomeness, I presume? HahAHAHHAHahAH!" the Joker smiled. He looked at the man curiously. "You look like her... the great detective."

"What do you want with my daughter?" Shinichi asked.

"Daughter...? Is she the spawn of the broth of your shillelagh? Good man!" he laughed. "No wonder you are also quick on your feet, father-detective. Nice improvised gas mask.

"I heard Detective Kudo has been recovering since our last encounter, and I thought it might be good to send some get well flowers." he continued, and smiled as he slowly extended his hand, which was holding the box of flowers he had been carrying. He was about to put them at Ayumi's bed, when Shinichi shook his gun with warning.

"Don't approach her," he muttered towards the Joker. "How do I know you aren't just here to finish her off?"

"Why, because she survived!" the Joker laughed. "And I always believe that what doesn't kill you makes you... stranger."

Shinichi blinked slightly for a moment, and looked at Joker's eyes as his smile widened. Those cruel deranged eyes were looking at him, but there was something odd. There was a recognizable sound coming behind him.

Taking a few seconds to see what was going on at his back, he saw a helicopter hovering outside the window. His eyes widened when he saw Urashima Kanako, wearing probably one of the most colorful red suits he ever saw, wielding what looked like an RPG launcher at her shoulders.

He jumped immediately over Ayumi, careful not to crush her under his weight as he heard a small high pitched whistle coming at him, and ended with a rather large but somehow controlled explosion. He felt some of the glass shatter on his back, though harmless and slid off his jacket immediately.

Shaking his head, he looked around for the Joker, only to spot him behind the large hole which was the result of the explosion. He looked at Shinichi with a big smile at his face, his hand going for his pants pocket. Shinichi thought he was going to pull out a gun, or something equally, or even more nasty... but it wasn't anything of sort.

"I seemed to have forgotten to return these," the Joker declared, dangling a keychain with his fingers before throwing it carefully on the floor. "Tell the detective that I had much fun playing with her... and look forward to it again. Until next time... father-detective... HaHAHAHahahAHAHAhAHAHAHahAHAHA!"

And the Joker exited from the wall, grabbing a rope ladder brought down from the helicopter that had been hovering earlier, and flew away, cleanly, laughing all the way to the sky.

Shinichi Kudo carefully extracted himself from atop of his daughter, careful not to hurt her as he stepped towards the floor, and looked at the keychain that the Joker had left. He recognized it. It was Ayumi's keychain, where she had kept most of her work-related keys, even the handcuffs.

He took a few tentative steps out towards the hole at the wall, and watched as the Joker was being pulled up to the helicopter, flying away. He'd probably be gone by the time he'd call for back-up.

He looked at the box, which the Joker had brought. It was now open, revealing some white flowers wrapped in a green ribbon. He shook his head.

"What a guy," Shinichi muttered. The Joker had blown up a car down the street to distract the police, unleashed sleeping gas to take out the remaining ones of this floor, and exited through the window and to the sky with a helicopter... probably stolen. How, he didn't exactly know... and all this to give Ayumi some get-well flowers.

Crazy. Absolutely insane.

"Well, kiddo... I hope you can use that head of yours to catch him," Shinichi muttered towards his daughter. "Because you'll need your entire prowess to catch him."

Ayumi Kudo didn't stir, though her fingers were showing movement once again.

**---------------**

"Puddin..."

The Joker looked at Kanako, who was wearing a nice tight-fitting colorful red outfit. He had been pulled up, and closed the door, muting the deafening sound of the helicopter rotor spinning in blinding speed.

"What is it precious?" he asked.

"Why did you use sleeping gas? Why not JokerIZE?" Kanako asked.

"Why my dear Harley," he smiled. "I didn't want to accidentally dose our dear detective, and kill her by mistake, now do we?"

She just pouted. "Why not? Why keep her alive?"

"Why, my little Harley?" the Joker asked in reply. "Want to know why?"

Kanako nodded. The Joker laughed, his smile widening.

"Simple... 'cause its much more fun this way."

**- The End –**

_Author's Notes: _

_That's the end of Ace of Knaves. Hopefully, you enjoyed the story, and hopefully, with this story, you can appreciate who the Joker actually is. It's a bit odd to find people all over the internet claiming such... weird... things about Mr. J. _

_Will I make a sequel? Well, who knows. _

_Anyways, thanks for Aaron and all of you who stuck with this story. Later. _


End file.
